[meteorite-list] NPA 01-16-1970 Freshly-fallen (Lost City) meteorite found by US scientists

[MARK BOSTICK]

Paper: Daily Gleaner
City: Kingston, Surrey, Jamaica
Date: Friday, January 16, 1970
Page: 11

Freshly-fallen meteorite found by US scientists

     WASHINGTON, January 14, (Reuters): American scientists today proudly 
displayed a meteorite that they said could prove as scientifically valuable 
as moon samples brought back by Apollo astronauts.
     The 22-pound lump of grey rock was found on a snowy cart track in 
Oklahoma last week after automatic cameras picked up its fiery trail through 
the earth's atmosphere.
     It is the first meteorite, the name given to a fallen meteor, whose 
orbit is accurately known and which has been recovered promptly after it 
crashed to earth, scientists said.
     With the aid of 16 unmanned tracking stations scattered across the 
mid-western states, American scientists have been trying for five years to 
pinpoint a meteorite's landing so that the object can be recovered and 
examined before becoming contaminated by earth's molecules.  Until this 
month, all efforts failed.
     The meteorite, about the size of a volley ball, came down January 3.  
Within a few days it was calculated that impact occurred in an area half a 
mile across near the tiny community of Lost City, Okla.

Hysterical

     The man who recovered the rock January 9, was Gunther Schwartz, project 
field manager, who had gone to Lost City to gather information from anyone 
who saw the falling star.
     Schwartz told a Press conference, "I was driving along a dirt track 
when I suddenly saw it in the road. I was hysterical, I couldn't believe my 
luck."
     Scientists now have begun preliminary examination of the meteorite 
which came from beyond Mars.
     Meteorites have been examined sooner after falling to earth - for 
instance, after crashing into a building. But Dr. Richard McCrosky scientist 
in charge of the project, said "What is unique about this is we know the 
orbit. There is only one other case where this was so, and that meteorite 
was not analyzed early".
     Scientists wanted what they call a fresh meteorite for analysis of 
radioactivity caused by cosmic ray bombardment during the trip through 
space.
     There radioactive "fingerprints" provide valuable clues to the 
composition and history of the universe, officials explained.
     The rock could even give a clue to whether life exists elsewhere in the 
universe, the officials added.  Since the meteorite has only just fallen to 
earth, it has probably not had time to become contaminated.

(end)

Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
www.meteoritearticles.com