# Did my son find a meteorite? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-son-find-a-meteorite/517113 "2009-11-11T00:12:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blood63](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@blood63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blood63)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-son-find-a-meteorite/517113/1 "2009-11-11T00:12:25Z")
My nine year old is very excited about a rock he found. We have checked several websites and it could very well be a meterorite. You can see some pictures [here](http://www.flickr.com/photos/10380117@N07/?saved=1). It has a density of about 3 g/cm3. It has a dull glassy surface and is riddled with pockmarks. It is difficult to judge the thickness of the crust but it seems to be thicker than it should be to be a meteorite. He found this item at a beach on top of a rock. It may have been placed there by someone else. Is it possible to verify this? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-son-find-a-meteorite/517113/2 "2009-11-11T00:32:38Z")
looks a lot like this [iron slag](http://blog.al.com/goforth/2007/06/update_on_bibb_county_glades_a.html). [http://blog.al.com/goforth/Iron-slag-Bibb-County-Glades-Alabama.jpg](http://blog.al.com/goforth/Iron-slag-Bibb-County-Glades-Alabama.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-son-find-a-meteorite/517113/3 "2009-11-11T00:35:49Z")
[This professor has a very good site](http://www.uwex.edu/wgnhs/MinIndexIntro.htm) and one thing he has is a link to a question he gets asked by people. [Some Meteorite Realities](http://meteorites.wustl.edu/realities.htm) ---
**Author:** ![blood63](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@blood63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blood63)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-son-find-a-meteorite/517113/4 "2009-11-11T00:56:05Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > looks a lot like this [iron slag](http://blog.al.com/goforth/2007/06/update_on_bibb_county_glades_a.html). > > [http://blog.al.com/goforth/Iron-slag-Bibb-County-Glades-Alabama.jpg](http://blog.al.com/goforth/Iron-slag-Bibb-County-Glades-Alabama.jpg) Yes it does. But iron has a much higher density than this. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-son-find-a-meteorite/517113/5 "2009-11-11T01:03:57Z")
> [@blood63](#): > > Yes it does. > > But iron has a much higher density than this. Slag is the [aero](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_%28chocolate%29) bar of the metal world, it is not always solid, it is frequently all bubbly inside… ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-son-find-a-meteorite/517113/6 "2009-11-11T01:50:01Z")
Specific Gravity Iron slag 2.5 - 3.0 [http://www.reade.com/Particle\_Briefings/spec\_gra.html](http://www.reade.com/Particle_Briefings/spec_gra.html) ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-son-find-a-meteorite/517113/7 "2009-11-11T02:40:13Z")
I found rocks like this when I kid. I got excited about them, and what did they turn out to be? Cinders ([volcanic](http://www.earlham.edu/~baumasa/graphics/blue%20dragon%20cinders.jpg) [rocks](http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/id/community_pits/owinza_butte.Par.89635.Image.-1.-1.1.gif)) that the town would dump on the roads in the winter for traction. They tend to be very light, reddish-brown, full of pockmarks and holes, look burnt and/or glassy, really weird rocks. As **harmonious discord** ’s link indicates (Meteor Realities), all of the little holes and bumpy spots would be ablated during atmospheric entry. Quite likely it’s [slag](http://meteorites.wustl.edu/meteorwrongs/m245.htm), though. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-son-find-a-meteorite/517113/8 "2009-11-13T05:26:26Z")
If you really want to find meteorites, look in your roof gutters. Seriously. Take some of the sludge that sits in the gutters and mix it with clean water, then put a strong magnet in a plastic bag and dredge it through the solution a few times. Once the bag dries, take it off the magnet and reserve the dust that is clinging to the bag. If you look at that dust under a microscope, you will find a fair number of micrometeorites - they are the spherical particles as opposed to the more jagged terrestrial dust/roof gravel. [Cites here,](http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/222/Micrometeorites-On-Your-Roof!.html) [here,](http://www.natureandscience.org/planetarium/meteors.asp) [and here.](http://www.stevespangler.com/science-experiments/a-meteorite-hit-my-house/#more-43) [Some pics here, too.](http://toddstrasser.blogspot.com/2009/02/micrometeorites.html) ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-son-find-a-meteorite/517113/9 "2009-11-13T06:36:28Z")
Maybe it was a meteorong. ---
**Author:** ![TerpBE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@TerpBE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TerpBE)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-son-find-a-meteorite/517113/10 "2009-11-13T17:04:11Z")
Is it attracted to a magnet? It won’t give you a definite yes or no answer, but it could help narrow down the possibilities. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-son-find-a-meteorite/517113/11 "2009-11-14T15:09:52Z")
> [@brossa](#): > > If you really want to find meteorites, look in your roof gutters. Seriously. [Yep!!](http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/meteorites)