[meteorite-list] Museum investigation: 'Probably a rock, not meteorite'

[Jeff Kuyken]

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/special-features/museum-investigates-meteorite-claims/story-e6frg1ac-1225837470139

Museum investigation: 'Probably a rock, not meteorite'


SCIENTISTS investigating claims a meteor fragment the size of a cricket ball 
collided into a WA house have confirmed it was almost certainly a rock. The 
object hit the roof of the home about 4pm on Thursday in the north-eastern 
Perth suburb of Beechboro.

A female occupant thought it was a meteor.

The WA Museum today said the object may have fallen from a plane lowering 
its landing gear.

The museum's head of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Dr Alex Bevan, yesterday 
inspected the object, which he did not suspect was from outer space.

"Alex did have a look at some photos of the object, but when he did look at 
it in person, he did not think it was from a meteorite," a museum 
spokesperson said.

"Sometimes rocks get caught in the wheels of planes and as they are lowering 
their gear they may fall, we just don't know."

Perth Observatory said it had received a "couple of reports" on Thursday 
night from people phoning to say they had seen a light in the sky.

"At this stage no one seems to be able to put it all together, but if it was 
a meteor it belongs to the WA Government, observatory astronomer Ralph 
Martyn said.

"The reports at this stage are very sketchy."

He said the observatory was waiting to inspect a photograph of the object.

"A lot of people find slag out of glass furnaces and think they are 
meteorites as well, they kind of look the same."