Grandpa’s old rock

I have heard many wonderful stories from people who want to know if the rock that one of their older relatives had treasured for years as a meteorite really is a meteorite, perhaps because the relative heard a thud on the roof and later retrieved a rock. I have seen a photo of only one such rock, from Ireland, that looked like in might actually be a stony meteorite. A few others have come from people who said something like, “Dad bought it from a guy in Arizona back in 1942.” Most of the latter objects have been iron meteorites. Unfortunately, such rocks are of little value to potential buyers or collectors if there is no paper documentation of the name of the meteorite, e.g., Canyon Diablo or Campo del Cielo.

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