Rocks for sale that do not look like lunar meteorites to me
Real lunar meteorites are sold on the internet; I have bought some there myself. There are many legitimate sellers. Unfortunately, there are a lot of backyard rocks that are also advertised as lunar, martian, and other types of meteorites. Many of these appear to me to be deliberate deceptions. Others, I believe, are offered sincerely by foolish and naïve wishful thinkers who do not know much about meteorites. Such ads often contain meaningless mumbo-jumbo (e.g., “rounded by planetary orbit”) or common misconceptions (“…been flaming when it hit my yard;” see this).
I spent a COVID-19 morning cruising a couple of popular buy-sell site on the internet and found offers to sell quite a few “lunar meteorites.” None of the rocks looked like any kind of meteorite to me. Often, these rocks are self evident fakes from the stupid descriptions, exorbitant asking prices, lack of a fusion crust, and lack of an approved name.
Here are a several that I found, with my snarky comments.
4 December 2023 (2.7 years later): The rock at the top ($60,000) is still for sale at the same price, but now there are 209 watchers. The rock at the bottom ($3,999) is still for sale at the same price, but now there are 118 watchers. The rock is not a breccia.
So far, no iron meteorite has been found on the moon.
