Possible New Finds
(These are only possible IL meteorites, testing is still in progress. I consider them meteorwrongs until proven otherwise.)
If you have any questions or comment about any them you can go to our forum, I or another member will reply to your question or comment.
These are all stones that I found in Illinois, most were found in LaSalle County. The specimens on this page are ones that I think might be meteorites. They will have samples taken from each and sent off for testing so they can verified as meteorites/wrongs. I will post any info I find out about them in the forum Here. I found all of them in Illinois. Most were in LaSalle County.
Rocco's Possible Meteorite
The first photo is pre-etch. The rest are after the etch. I did a 5 minute etch with 7.5% Nitol solution. You can see that it changes like a hologram when turning it or looking at it from different angles. I though Henbury when I first saw it. It looks like it is oriented and I think it is a meteorite. I just think it is too small to get a widmanstatten pattern. Rocco, I suggest that you keep the location of this find a secret, and go hunt it out with your new metal detector. I think there is a big main mass out there somewhere, it could be a few miles away, I would start searching where you found it and make a search grid starting at the point where you found it, The go out from there, I think you will be very happy with what you are going to uncover, just remember the little guys such as myself ;)
This looks like it might be an ataxite, it has been etched and has a weird etch, I have however seen them like this, something like this.
This one is my best bet to be an authentic meteorite find. It has nice metal and chondrules. I have three stone of this one, I am pretty sure it is a meteorite. I am going to get it tested/classified as soon as I can afford to do so, unless somebody want to pay for it and I will give them a piece of it. if interested, just let me know.
I was contacted by Mr. Michael Rodriguez to look at this piece, I only had about 10 minutes to examine it, I did grind a small window into it. I etched the window, It had an unusual etch, but an etch none the less. I will get some photo . I am currently to get the details on the find for this meteorite/wrong.
This is a possible Mendota, IL meteorite. It is the only piece found, so far. I have not been back to the area where it was found, but I hope to soon. It has metal flecks and possible chondrules and shock veins.
This piece was found in the Park Forest strewnfield. When etched it has a weird etch, but it does has an etch of sorts (photos to come). Found near this was a few smaller pieces. It does test pos for Ni.
One of two pos irons found within a few feet of one another. I can't find the other
These sure look like meteorites to me, when I etched them the iron turned rally dark grey, and they have "shock veins" even more appeared after etching. It turned the Q-tip dark pink when doing a Ni test. The High Ni and the grayish blackish etch I think that these may be Ataxites. I have over 200 grams worth of these small meteorwrongs? meteorites?, many complete individuals also many cut pieces. I will probably be sending this to be tested soon.
This is another interesting one, it has a metal inclusions, the inclusion appears to have shock veins. It also appears to have a few chondrules, this one will probably see some more testing. This is just one of many just like this one that I found. This is the same as the ones above, this one has not been cut in half, but has had a nice window ground and polished.
PIM006
I found this in a farmers rock pile. It is slightly magnetic. It is also really heavy and dense. I know it looks like clay/dirt inclusions, but I assure you that they are solid and can't be washed away, I tried. I think it looks like an impactasite or a regolith breccia that I have seen (here is sample pic) of some sort, but I am sure I am wrong. I like how this one looks so I kept it around in my collection of possible meteorites.
MM002
This one was found in the same field as the one above. This one weighs 15.6 grams. This one sure looks like a meteorite. It tests positive for nickel using ALLERTEST Ni kit, the swab turned really bright pink. As you can tell by the photo I ground and polished a small area so that I could etch it. After etching it you can see what appears to be small widmanstatten pattern. It also has small inclusions. I also see what appears to be Neumann lines. I am going to be sending half of this specimen in for testing, keeping half. Again, I am not claiming this to be a meteorite, just a possible meteorite.
ILFR001
This one was found in water. This is a very nice looking with green inclusions, lots of chondrules, and some tannish material that looks like wood glue. I only have 7 gr. of this material. This one was found underwater using the meteorite fishing method, with very strong neodymium magnets.
ILFR002
This one was also found in water. I have about 200 gr. of this material. This one has lots of "chondrules" and a mostly black matrix with lots of metal flecks. They were all totally submersed under water, They were found with very strong neodymium magnets.
I have been told by multiple people that this resembles a Martian meteorite. I found it along the river banks of the Illinois River. It looks like an oriented stone meteorite. I believe I may have this one sent for a chem analysis, if that does not exclude it I will then send it to be authenticated. But I would not bet farm on it being a meteorite, but you never know. I feel obligated to, since I have so many people tell me they think I should have it tested.
Last Updated on 3/21/2008
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