|
On Wednesday, Oct. 29, at approximately 7:30 p.m., a meteor was seen passing over Colorado Springs and was projected to go into “dark” flight over Cedaredge, according to Mike Jensen, owner of Jensen Meteorite, located in Aurora.
Based on the flight path, Jensen believes it is possible that a meteorite might be found somewhere between 0-20 miles due west of Cedaredge (possibly in the ‘dobies or on the Grand Mesa). He is curious if anyone in the area heard anything unusual that evening.
Jensen said meteorites have value, both scientifically and financially, and he is looking for information to determine whether or not it is worth him spending time searching for pieces of the meteorite. Unfortunately, according to Blaine Reed, owner of Blaine Reed Meteorites, any “search” for the meteorite will be difficult. According to Reed, if the meteor landed anywhere in the undeveloped areas west of Cedaredge, it would require a lot of incredible luck for someone to find a piece of it while out hiking. But both Reed and Jensen are hoping to find someone who may have heard or seen something unusual on that night. The information could help determine the location where the meteorite might be found. Reed said the best case scenario would be if some of pieces landed in developed areas. Then, it would just be “a matter of educating the population about what to look for, and hoping that someone notices a new hole in a shed, pit in a yard, broken siding on their house, and recognizes the new rock they find nearby as a meteorite.” Reed said the photos are of the two types that “are most likely to be found from this fireball — stone and iron.” Stone meteorite According to Reed, a stone meteorite is most likely what fell. Reed said this type of meteorite makes up around 90 percent of all falls. Unfortunately, they are not all that noticeably different from other common earth rocks. They are a bit heavier for their size, and like many other rocks found on the Grand Mesa, will attract a magnet. The meteorite will also have a noticeably different exterior appearance to normal rocks, and there will not be any gas bubbles present in the rock. This is important as many of the local basalt rocks contain gas bubbles. It is likely, at this point, any specimens recovered now will already show some obvious rust brown colored spotting on both the crusted and broken interior surfaces, due to the effect of the weather. For those hoping to find one of these “stone” meteorites, the important features include a rock that is heavier for its size than a typical rock; black in color although it may have some rust brown spotting color on the surface; irregular shape, with rounded edges on the exterior surface; no gas bubbles (Reed said this is important. “I look at tons of man-made slag because people typically ignore this one,” he said); the meteorite will attract a magnet; and the presence of bright metal flakes on a ground near impact. Reed said there is also a slight chance that an iron meteorite
|