A MYSTERIOUS Masterton rock initially thought
to have come from outer space is more than likely to be a naturally-occurring
phenomenon, according to a director of the International Meteorite
Collectors Association.
Ken Newton is on the IMCA board of directors and his duties
include helping new collectors and sellers identify their suspect
rock.
Mr Newton contacted the Times-Age after reading on the Internet
about Masterton man Gordon Kibblewhite’s mysterious object
which he thought may have been a meteorite.
Mr Kibblewhite found the object on a Hawke’s Bay beach
five years ago.
He has previously sent it to the Carter Observatory and Victoria
University, which he said couldn’t confirm the object
was a meteor but didn’t say it wasn’t either. He
contacted the Times-Age after reading about an Auckland family
who had a meteorite crash through their lounge roof and who
subsequently received calls from overseas enthusiasts offering
thousands of dollars for their space fall.
Mr Newton said in an e-mail communication that judging from
the Times-Age picture it was more likely Mr Kibblewhite’s
object was a naturally-occurring iron ore formation.“ The
photo is not a meteorite,” he said. “I would guess
it is a botryoidal hematite or a marcasite nodule … (both
are) pyrite nodules which are naturally-occurring iron ore
formations that are often mistaken for meteors,” he said.
