Rocks That Do Not Look Like Lunar Meteorites to Me

Real lunar meteorites are sold on the internet; I have bought some there myself. 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 but foolishly by somewhat 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 popular buy-sell site on the internet and found offers to sell quite a few “lunar meteorites.” A number of the rocks did not look like any kind of meteorites to me. Often, these rocks are self evidently fakes by the stupid descriptions, exorbitant asking prices, lack of a fusion crust, and lack of an approved name.

Here are a dozen that I found, with some snarky comments.