[meteorite-list] HELP PLEASE - PECULIAR METEORITE DISCOVERY....

[Darryl Pitt]

Folks, 

I need your help; there is a problem here---I'm just not certain as to its nature. 

A seemingly honest fellow from Sandy Hook, NJ came to my office late today in the hope I could verify what he was told could be a meteorite---and it is. 

This fellow said that just after he moved in a year ago, he found it on the embankment of his backyard just beyond which is a 75 foot escarpment.  The wife said she tried to throw the rusty thing out a couple of times and both times he rescued it from the garbage.  It is a medium octahedrite which weighs 4.236 kg.  How do I know it's a medium  octahedrite?  I could make out a feint pattern underneath a veneer of rust on the cut face.  Yes, roughly speaking, this fellow found a cut and prepared meteorite in his backyard.

The fellow left the specimen in my possession and agreed to allow me to have a sample removed and forwarded for analysis. I advised him there could be a problem here that could be readily determined---and he didn't seem fazed.  While I've been accused of being naive, I nonetheless genuinely believe he and his wife are honest....but I just don't get it. 

Any thoughts here?   Northeastern New Jersey.  End piece.  Medium octahedrite.  4.2 kg. 

I'll get a pic posted tomorrow. 

All best and thanks / d,