[meteorite-list] Cannon Falls Man Discovers Meteorite, Again

[dorifry]

      CF man discovers meteorite, again



      by Ken Haggerty



      Skunk Hollow resident Larry Plucker is a fairly down-to-earth guy, 
except for maybe once every fifty years or so when he has what could be 
called cosmic experiences.

      Plucker, who runs an appliance repair business, grew up on a farm near 
Emery, South Dakota. When he was just a kid, back in 1962, he pulled a 
somewhat different looking rock out of a rock pile on the farm.

      The curious young kid did some encyclopedia research and suspected he 
had discovered a meteorite. He saw an article on meteorites in the farming 
magazine "The Furrow" and, as suggested in the article, sent a sample of the 
rock to the American Meteorite Laboratory in Denver, where it was confirmed 
a meteorite.

      The Lab, which was aggressively researching meteorites as the U.S. was 
in the early years of the space program, bought his 36 pound rock for nearly 
$200.

      (A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that 
survives impact with the Earth's surface. When a meteoroid enters the 
atmosphere, the body heats up and emits light, thus forming a fireball, also 
known as a meteor or shooting/falling star. There are about 40,000 
documented meteorite finds in the world.)

      Fast forward almost half a century. It's late-October, 2011, when 
Plucker, his wife and son are on vacation in Washington, D.C. doing all the 
touristy monument and museum visits.

      During a stop at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Plucker 
was walking through an exhibit on various geological finds when he said to 
his wife "I wonder whatever happened to the meteorite I found." Plucker said 
they turned a corner and moments later he noticed a glassed-in display of 
meteorites, including one named "Emery" that was discovered in South Dakota, 
1962.

      The meteorite he had found as a kid was on display at the Smithsonian! 
It turns out his meteorite is a type called a mesosiderite, and is a mix of 
stone, iron and nickel and is one of the more rare meteorites. Plucker says 
only about one percent of the found meteorites are of this type.

      Plucker grabbed a few pictures of his second chance occurrence with 
this cosmic rock for posterity and smiled about the probability and odds of 
finding that meteorite not once, but twice.

      Since he was a kid, Plucker has kept a sliver of the meteorite, which 
he carries with him in his wallet for good luck. As Plucker jokes, "You know 
what they say: 'Catch a falling star and put in your pocket!'"


      http://www.cannonfalls.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=21039

      Phil Whitmer
      Joshua Tree Earth & Space Museum