[meteorite-list] New 1, 500-Pound Pallasite Meteorite Found in Kansas?

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/state/14962126.htm

Meteorite found near Haviland may be the new record-holder
Associated Press
July 4, 2006

WICHITA, Kan. - A Kiowa County man said he may have found what could be one 
of the largest meteorites ever reported.

Don Stimpson said he and Paul Ross were searching Ross' field recently with 
a giant metal detector when the device made so much noise they thought they'd 
found an old culvert.

Instead, they began digging up pieces of meteorite.

"We dug and dug and brought up a 250-pound meteorite," said Stimpson, who had 
thought the field had been cleared of meteorites. "And then we looked, and 
there was another one there. We dug it out and...well, wait a minute, there 
is more. We brought 1,500 pounds of meteorite from that one hole."

Experts said the find may be part of the Brenham meteorites, a collection of 
space rocks that fell to Earth in the present-day Brenham Township near 
Haviland about 20,000 years ago.

Many are among the most famous and sought-after in the world because they are 
pallasites. The extremely rare rocks contain crystals that look like stained 
glass when they are cut.

Wichita State University physics professor David Alexander, whose specialty 
is astronomy, said that if the pieces Stimpson and Ross found are from one 
meteorite, it would be the largest pallasite ever found.

Professional meteorite hunter Steve Arnold found the current record-holder, a 
1,400-pound pallasite, about two miles southeast of Ross' land last fall.

Stimpson said he's still excavating the crater, which he said is covered in 
a thick layer of rust about 20 feet in diameter.

"We do not know how far it extends," he said. "I'll keep working on the site 
as long as I can and submit a scientific paper with my data when we are 
finished."

Meanwhile, the public can get a glimpse Saturday at what Stimpson and Ross 
found during Haviland's annual meteorite festival.