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Michigan man's meteorite worth $100,000 was used as doorstop for years
Michigan man's meteorite worth $100,000 was used as doorstop for years
Fiona Kelliher, Detroit Free Press Published 3:16 p.m. ET Oct. 4, 2018 | Updated 9:02 a.m. ET Oct. 5, 2018
Professor Monaliza Sirbescu shows off a meteorite that's been in a Grand Rapids man's home for years.
(Photo: Mackenzie Brockman/Central Michigan University)
A meteorite worth about $100,000 has been used as a doorstop at a Grand Rapids farm for years.
Geology Professor Mona Sirbescu of Central Michigan University first identified the 22.5-pound chunk of iron as more than just a doorstop when the owner asked her to look at it earlier this year. Although many people had asked her to examine rocks in the past, this time was different.
CMU prof catches a falling star
"I was exhilarated," Sirbescu said.
Fiona Kelliher, Detroit Free Press Published 3:16 p.m. ET Oct. 4, 2018 | Updated 9:02 a.m. ET Oct. 5, 2018
Professor Monaliza Sirbescu shows off a meteorite that's been in a Grand Rapids man's home for years.
(Photo: Mackenzie Brockman/Central Michigan University)
A meteorite worth about $100,000 has been used as a doorstop at a Grand Rapids farm for years.
Geology Professor Mona Sirbescu of Central Michigan University first identified the 22.5-pound chunk of iron as more than just a doorstop when the owner asked her to look at it earlier this year. Although many people had asked her to examine rocks in the past, this time was different.
CMU prof catches a falling star
"I was exhilarated," Sirbescu said.
CMU prof catches a falling star
Smithsonian considers $100,000 former doorstop for its collection
October 3, 2018
Contact: Gary H. Piatek
Throughout her 18 years at Central Michigan University, Mona Sirbescu, a geology faculty member in earth and atmospheric sciences, has had many people ask her if the rock they had found was a meteorite. ... "For 18 years, the answer has been categorically 'no' — meteor wrongs, not meteorites," she said with a smile.
That has changed.
Earlier this year a man from Grand Rapids, Michigan, asked her to examine a large rock that he has had for 30 years. She was skeptical but agreed to meet him. When he arrived, he pulled out of a bag the biggest potential meteorite she had ever been asked to examine. ... "I could tell right away that this was something special," she said.
She determined that it was in fact a 22-plus pound meteorite, making it the sixth-largest recorded find in Michigan — and potentially worth $100,000. ... "It's the most valuable specimen I have ever held in my life, monetarily and scientifically," she said.
....
Smithsonian considers $100,000 former doorstop for its collection
October 3, 2018
Contact: Gary H. Piatek
Throughout her 18 years at Central Michigan University, Mona Sirbescu, a geology faculty member in earth and atmospheric sciences, has had many people ask her if the rock they had found was a meteorite. ... "For 18 years, the answer has been categorically 'no' — meteor wrongs, not meteorites," she said with a smile.
That has changed.
Earlier this year a man from Grand Rapids, Michigan, asked her to examine a large rock that he has had for 30 years. She was skeptical but agreed to meet him. When he arrived, he pulled out of a bag the biggest potential meteorite she had ever been asked to examine. ... "I could tell right away that this was something special," she said.
She determined that it was in fact a 22-plus pound meteorite, making it the sixth-largest recorded find in Michigan — and potentially worth $100,000. ... "It's the most valuable specimen I have ever held in my life, monetarily and scientifically," she said.
....
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