Meteorwrong is an amusing term – a “play on words” – applied to rocks said or thought to be meteorites by someone but which are actually terrestrial rocks or man-made objects. In the scientific meteorite literature, some ambiguous meteorwrongs have been designated pseudometeorites. Some of these, at least, have required chemical or mineralogical testing to prove that they are not meteorites.
All of the photos below were sent to me by persons inquiring if (or insisting that!) the object was a meteorite. In my opinion, none of them are meteorites.
Meteorwrongs 1. (1) Big vesicles (holes, gas bubbles), no fusion crust; (2) Vesicles, no fusion crust; (3) Vesicles, no fusion crust; (4) Slag: one (top) face flat and shiny, vesicles, metal grain, no fusion crust; (5 & 6) Stripes or layers, no fusion crust; (7) Slag: vesicles, metal grain, no fusion crust; (8 & 9) Goofy-shaped, reddish, hematite concretion, no fusion crust, goofy shape.Meteorwrongs 2. (10) Too colorful, no fusion crust; (11) Metal, but no attraction to a magnet: melted beer or soda can; (12) Swirly features, no fusion crust; (13) Surface much too rough, no fusion crust; (14) Radiating feature: radiating pyrite; (15) Spherical, geometric pattern, surface not smooth: coral?; (16) Geometric shape with straight lines, no fusion crust: roofing tile?; (17) Vesicles, no fusion crust; (18) Concentric and spherical: some kind of concretion?Meteorwrongs 3. (19-25) Vesicles, no fusion crust. Mostly slags.
