Treasure hunters are descending on Chebarkul Lake in search of bits and pieces of the meteorite that fell last week in Russia. National Post
A year or so ago, a meteor broke up over Alberta setting off a treasure hunt there. One collector was offering $10,000 for the first fist-size chunk of space rock. Most meteorites found have a high nickel/iron content so metal detectors respond to them. Last year, there was a short reality series on TV about a couple of guys in Arizona that spent days combing a “splashdown swath” and they found a number of meteor bits tat sold for pretty good money to collectors.
Interesting setup for a mutant superhero campaign… “Your characters are all opportunists who rushed to the middle of Nebraska in February to track down meteorite debris. You thought you had struck it rich when you found a piece of greenish-blue rock, slightly warm to the touch and, as you noticed later that night, glowing slightly…”
I think so, there are rabid collectors of almost everything.
My son has a metal detector that he uses to prospect for change on school playgrounds in summer. I’ve tried to encourage him to use it to prospect for meteorites and placer gold too since we live in a historic gold mining area.
Anybody know how they make those meteor dial watches? I imagine the make thin slices of the material…but given the expense, is it worth the effort?
Still, they look nice.
