[meteorite-list] Mysterious Rock No Meteorite

[Ron Baalke]

http://times-age.co.nz/news2004/040618c.html

Mysterious rock no meteorite
By Sean Hoskins
Wairarapa Times-Ages (New Zealand)
June 18, 2004

A MYSTERIOUS Masterton rock initially thought to have come from 
outer space is more than likely to be a naturally-occurring 
phenomenon, according to a director of the International 
Meteorite Collectors Association.

Ken Newton is on the IMCA board of directors and his duties 
include helping new collectors and sellers identify their 
suspect rock.

Mr Newton contacted the Times-Age after reading on the Internet 
about Masterton man Gordon Kibblewhite's mysterious object 
which he thought may have been a meteorite.

Mr Kibblewhite found the object on a Hawke's Bay beach five years 
ago. He has previously sent it to the Carter Observatory and 
Victoria University, which he said couldn't confirm the object 
was a meteor but didn't say it wasn't either. He contacted the 
Times-Age after reading about an Auckland family who had a 
meteorite crash through their lounge roof and who subsequently 
received calls from overseas enthusiasts offering thousands of 
dollars for their space fall.

Mr Newton said in an e-mail communication that judging from the 
Times-Age picture it was more likely Mr Kibblewhite's object 
was a naturally-occurring iron ore formation." The photo is not 
a meteorite," he said. "I would guess it is a botryoidal hematite 
or a marcasite nodule ... (both are) pyrite nodules which are 
naturally-occurring iron ore formations that are often mistaken 
for meteors," he said.