Originally published at: Meteorite ownership: are space rocks in your yard really yours? - Boing Boing
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Most of the hunters I know search private lands, with permission from the owners beforehand. There are a few gray areas, like dry lake beds that may or may not be open for space rock hunting, but have traditionally been used for it.
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I wish I could get a piece of rocky meteorite. I have a couple bits of the iron one from Campo del Cielo in Argentina. It is a very common one you can find out there.Estimated to be 4.5 billion years old, it’s the oldest thing I have. I also have a tektite, though that is terrestrial rock splashed up from an impact.
But a stony-iron slice with olivine? That would be awesome!
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Of all places, TCU in Fort Worth has one of the largest meteorite museums in the world.
Back in the 1920s and 1930s this fellow, Monning, in Fort Worth was a meteorite enthusiast and at some point asked the Smithsonian if he could come and visit their collection – they said he wasn’t a serious scientist and so, you know, bugger off.
Monning’s fortunes had held up during the Great Depression and – as an enthusiast – he let it be known that he would pay good money to any farmer who found a meteorite, So lots of farmers and ranchers in West Texas and New Mexico, particularly, were quick to send in their meteors. Over time, he amassed a huge collection. If you ever see a map of known meteor finds in the US, you’ll see a disproportionate number of finds that way – and it’s largely because Monning would buy them all up.
When it came time to try to find a permanent home for the collection the Smithsonian was first in line to say, “yes, please.”
But he had not forgotten the slight so instead gave them to TCU.
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That’s awesome! I’ll have to check that out if I ever get down to Texas.
Here in Michigan there’s a much smaller project. Every known meteor to hit the Upper or Lower Peninsula (all 11 of them!) has a sample collected at the Abrams Planetarium on the MSU campus.
https://www.abramsplanetarium.org/meteorites/michigan/index.html
I hope to hear about more collections like these in various states. It’s great that the Smithsonian has a centralized collection for the US, but there need to be more local and accessible locations for local meteorites.
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Genuinely surprised that the UK has missed a perfectly good opportunity to claim all meteorites and every heavenly body as part of the Crown Estate to go along with a chunk of Antarctica, the entire seabed around the UK, all mineral rights, sturgeon and every beached whale.
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When I finished University some forty years ago, I worked for a year or so at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, as a handyman. (I was pathetically bad at it.) Two of the senior students there - postgrads, I think - formed a meteorite team. If there was a report of anything that might concieveably be a meteorite within driving distance of Edinburgh, they jumped on it and were off. They never did find anything while I was there, but perhaps by this time they or their successors have.
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Hypothetical: I find a meteorite in Yosemite. I bring it home, oh look, I found this meteorite in my yard.
On the other hand, here’s how to find meteorites from your roof.
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What if I’m on a public road and it hits my car?
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And the swans! Don’t forget the swans!
(Those that aren’t owned by The Abbotsbury Swannery, The Vintners Company and The Dyers’ Company, anyway. This privilege goes back to ancient times when swans were considered a delicacy on the dinner table; this is no longer the case and anyway swans have not been legally edible in the UK since 1981, when they became protected wildlife. There’s still the office of Royal Swan Marker, who is the guy who counts the swans.)
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I have a small cut piece from Meteor Crater in Arizona. That’s not public land, though, so I’m good.
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This is incorrect. Hobbyists in the U.S. can keep meteorites found on Bureau of Land Management land, but not on national monuments or in national parks. I tried to include a link to the rules, but it is not allowed. Look at the BLM page on this subject.
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But the USA government has stated that no matter who finds a meteorite on public lands, it belongs to the Smithsonian Institute.
The article does not give a source so after your post I checked.
https://www.blm.gov/policy/im-2012-182
There are restrictions but it’s not as bad as the article states.
Can meteorites be collected free of charge and without a permit?
Yes, meteorites may be casually collected, i.e., for free and without a permit, under FLPMA.
However, in accordance with the BLM’s regulations at 43 CFR 8365.1-5 (1) collection is limited
to certain public lands, (2) only specimens up to ten pounds may be collected per person per
year, and (3) only surface collection with the use of non-motorized and non-mechanical
equipment is allowed; metal detectors are okay. However, specimens that are casually collected
are for personal use only, and may not be bartered or sold for commercial purposes.
How does this policy affect collecting of meteorites by rock hounds and other hobbyists?
The BLM policy clearly outlines how rock hounds and other hobbyists may casually collect
meteorites from public lands. No permit is required and no charge is assessed when collecting for
personal use. There are limits on how much may be collected – only ten pounds of meteorite
specimens per person per year. Collection is only from the surface, and motorized and
mechanized equipment is not allowed. However, metal detectors are okay. Meteorites collected
for personal use and cannot be bartered or sold.
Where can the public casually collect meteorites on public lands? Meteorites may be casually
collected from open public lands. Public lands that are closed to casual collection of meteorites
include: (1) developed recreational sites; (2) certain units of the National Landscape
Conservation System (NLCS) where the units have been designated for their
natural and scientific resource values, including national monuments and national conservation
areas; (3) areas that may have been withdrawn from casual collecting by a land use plan, such as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) and some wilderness areas; and (4) closures
by supplemental regulations. Those interested should contact the appropriate BLM office to
learn details for their area of interest.
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Try looking for Brenham, Brahin or Admire pallasites; they are generally available from meteorite dealers fairly inexpensively
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Sir,
I’m super impressed you checked out my comment and actually addressed it so quickly. I don’t know if it is practical to fix that part of the original copy, but at least you touched on it in the comments.
Thank You,
Scott Harlan
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How could I forget the swans???
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Probably traumatic amnesia after having had your arm broken by an unidentified large white aquatic bird.
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Welcome to BoingBoing! You can edit your original comment if you like, it’s often helpful to say that you’ve edited it based on comment/new info by other commenter.
ETA: or just put something at the end like this.
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Maybe kryptonite is their kryptonite?
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