[meteorite-list] 1,400-Pound Meteorite Found In Kansas

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.local6.com/news/5297345/detail.html

1,400-Pound Meteorite Found In Kansas

Rare Find Is Largest Ever Found In U.S.
local6.com
November 10, 2005

A man digging in Kansas found a 1,400-pound pallasite meteorite -- 
the largest ever discovered in the United States.

Steve Arnold, who is a professional meteorite hunter, said he found 
the rare stony-iron pallasite meteorite on a farm near Haviland.

"It's a gorgeous museum-quality specimen," Arnold said.

Arnold used special metal-detecting equipment to find it and needed 
a backhoe to get it out of the ground.

Pallasite meteorites are considered so rare that estimates show they 
account for only 1 percent of all meteorites on Earth.

The meteorite may be worth as much as $12 million, according to a 
Kansas City television station.


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http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/1849406.html

Record Setting Meteorite Found In Western Kansas
KAKE News
November 10, 2005

A professional meteorite hunter digs up a huge space rock right here in
Kansas. The record rock is the largest of it's type ever found in the
U.S. The metorite was discovered in Kiowa County last month.

It's an amazing find. It looks like a big piece of scrap metal,but it's
a meteorite. It's one of the largest and most valuable in the world and
it was found in a farmer's field. Now the farmer is looking forward to
cashing in.

Kiowa County farmer Allen Binford didn't know what to make of the huge
rock but meteorite hunter Steve Arnold did, it's the find of a life time.

Arnold, a native Wichitan, has been all over the world searching for
meteorites but after doing some research, he learned that these space
rocks were popping up everywhere in Western Kansas in the 1800's. So, he
decided to see if any were left behind.

Sure enough he found one seven and a half feet down in a wheat field.
It's a 1400 pound pallasite meteorite. It's the largest of it's type
ever recorded in U.S. history and the third largest in the world.

The huge piece of nickel and iron contains a valuable semi-precious
gemstone that is valued at $20-40 per gram. But this piece will likely
be sold to a museum or private collector. It could be worth around a
million dollars.

Binford hopes there are more meteorites in Western Kansas.