[meteorite-list] Intergalactic False Alarm: Novato Meteorite is Just a Rock

[JoshuaTreeMuseum]

Shawn,

I agree, the second rock doesn't look like a meteorite either. Has it been 
examined by an expert?

Phil Whitmer
Joshua Tree Earth & Space Museum


Hello Listers

Just found this, might be interesting for others that are hunting for 
meteorites in Novato area.

"After a fireball streaked across the Bay Area sky last Wednesday evening, 
scientists and locals alike have been on the hunt for pieces of the meteor 
that is believed to have made landfall in the Bay Area.
On Tuesday the meteor astronomer with the SETI Institute who reported over 
the weekend that the first piece of the meteor was found after it hit the 
roof of a Novato home clarified that the suspected meteorite discovered 
there is actually a natural rock.
Dr. Peter Jenniskens with the SETI Institute said on his NASA Ames Research 
Center webpage the house of administrative nurse at the University of 
California at San Francisco Lisa Webber was hit by something during the 
fireball's descent last Wednesday evening, but the meteorite remains 
elusive.
After an examination using a petrographic microscope Monday, Jenniskens was 
able to conclude the rock was not a meteorite.
He wrote Tuesday, "I sincerely thought it was, based on what appeared to me 
was remnant fusion crust. On closer inspection, that crust was a product of 
weathering of a natural rock, not from the heat of entry."
The 2-inch rock is 63 grams, dense and responds to a magnet, according to 
information from the SETI Institute, a nonprofit scientific and education 
organization that has projects sponsored by NASA and other foundations and 
research groups...."

source: 
http://millvalley.patch.com/articles/intergalactic-false-alarm-novato-meteorite-is-just-a-rock

The sample that was first found looks like the second sample that was found.

Shawn Alan
IMCA 1633