Attention folks near Dino Provincial Park (meteorites)

[rokman]

Does anyone here live in the area of Bassano, Rosermary, Duchess, Gem, Patricia, Verger, Steveville, Wardlow, Cessford etc? OR do you know anyone in those areas? I'd love to chat with anyone from these regions as this is the area of interest for potential meteorites from this fireball that occurred lastnight at about 5:08pm. People in this area may have heard a loud boom, or something resembling thunder. Their houses may have shook. They may have even heard sizzling or crackling sounds. And if they're lucky, they may have heard things hitting their roofs or buildings. This is all part of tracking down potential meteorites. I'm happy to lend assistance if I can talk to the right people. Thanks so much.

[MooseRiverTrapper]

What’s a meteor like that worth a pound? Good luck in your search.

[rokman]

The honest truth is it all depends.

Meteorites are like cars... if I say "what's a car worth?" how many questions would you have? The same applies to meteorites, believe it or not.

There are 3 main types:

Stony
Iron
Stony-iron

Of all meteorites found on the earth so far about 70% have been stony.
25% have been irons.
5% have been stony-irons.

So, if it's a stony type, it won't be worth as much as an iron. And if it's a stony-iron, it'll be worth more than the other two.

Next, it depends on subtype: There are many types of stony's, many types of irons and many types of stony-irons.

SO, depending on what's been found, you could have either a Kay Car or a Bugatti.

Chances are it's a stony. And the subtype will be what's called an "H" chondrite. If a piece were to be found that's the size of a golf ball, it might sell to the right collector for $30/gram. That golf ball sized meteorite would weigh about 50 grams... so, could be worth a cool $1500. But, if your buyer was outside of Canada's borders, then you'd have to apply for an export permit, because if the fine folks at the borders whom are trained to look for illegally exported items (and strangely meteorites that land in Canada are part of that rule), find your meteorite in a package (it WILL set off metal detectors cuz of the iron content) and you don't have the approved and signed documents (which take up to 6 months to be sorted through with a fresh new meteorite), then you'll face fines. But, if you play by the rules, have some patience and the right people to talk to, your meteorite could bring you a nice little piece of change.

BUT, if your buyer was a Canadian and the meteorite was shipped to someone in Canada, you could send it regular mail without issue. It's just that: the market is much much larger in the States than it is in Canada. That being said, I know many of the big collectors and dealers in Canada.

It's a complex subject and one I love talking about.

[MooseRiverTrapper]

Interesting. Good luck. Let me know if you want a hand looking some time.

[RandyBoBandy]

Originally Posted by rokman

The honest truth is it all depends.

Meteorites are like cars... if I say "what's a car worth?" how many questions would you have? The same applies to meteorites, believe it or not.

There are 3 main types:

Stony
Iron
Stony-iron

Of all meteorites found on the earth so far about 70% have been stony.
25% have been irons.
5% have been stony-irons.

So, if it's a stony type, it won't be worth as much as an iron. And if it's a stony-iron, it'll be worth more than the other two.

Next, it depends on subtype: There are many types of stony's, many types of irons and many types of stony-irons.

SO, depending on what's been found, you could have either a Kay Car or a Bugatti.

Chances are it's a stony. And the subtype will be what's called an "H" chondrite. If a piece were to be found that's the size of a golf ball, it might sell to the right collector for $30/gram. That golf ball sized meteorite would weigh about 50 grams... so, could be worth a cool $1500. But, if your buyer was outside of Canada's borders, then you'd have to apply for an export permit, because if the fine folks at the borders whom are trained to look for illegally exported items (and strangely meteorites that land in Canada are part of that rule), find your meteorite in a package (it WILL set off metal detectors cuz of the iron content) and you don't have the approved and signed documents (which take up to 6 months to be sorted through with a fresh new meteorite), then you'll face fines. But, if you play by the rules, have some patience and the right people to talk to, your meteorite could bring you a nice little piece of change.

BUT, if your buyer was a Canadian and the meteorite was shipped to someone in Canada, you could send it regular mail without issue. It's just that: the market is much much larger in the States than it is in Canada. That being said, I know many of the big collectors and dealers in Canada.

It's a complex subject and one I love talking about.

Absolutely intriguing

[rokman]

Originally Posted by MooseRiverTrapper

Interesting. Good luck. Let me know if you want a hand looking some time.

For sure! Where do you live? (Moose River?? lol)

[rokman]

Originally Posted by RandyBoBandy

Absolutely intriguing

Thanks Randaman lol. Frick I love that show.

[pinelakeperch]

I saw a meteorite come down in late September or early October near Rolling Hills.

[rokman]

Originally Posted by pinelakeperch

I saw a meteorite come down in late September or early October near Rolling Hills.

Neato!

[MegaHorn]

I am literally 10km east of Duchess AB, and never heard sweet dick all or saw anything in the sky yesterday

[rokman]

Originally Posted by MegaHorn

I am literally 10km east of Duchess AB, and never heard sweet dick all or saw anything in the sky yesterday

That also made me laugh out loud. Were you in a position at about 5:08pm where you could've heard something? Just trying to decipher if you were doing something that could've inhibited any thunderous sounds at that time.

[MegaHorn]

Originally Posted by rokman

That also made me laugh out loud. Were you in a position at about 5:08pm where you could've heard something? Just trying to decipher if you were doing something that could've inhibited any thunderous sounds at that time.

I was driving, I was leaving Bassano gas station around that time.

[rokman]

Originally Posted by MegaHorn

I was driving, I was leaving Bassano gas station around that time.

Gotchya, thanks.

[rokman]

Turns out I'm not the only one seeking new space rocks lol. I've messaged these guys asking if they need help. Figured I'b bump this up again in case anyone reading it is from the SE part of AB.

Specifically what we need now are eye/ear witnesses who heard sounds like thunder... rumbling... anything like that in the sky. It may have shook your house a little. If you recall anything like that and you live in the Brooks / Med Hat areas, I'd love to hear from you.


https://calgarysun.com/news/local-ne...f-2a145ee0954f

[rokman]

Bump.

Still hoping anyone in these regions comes forward with reports of hearing noises in the sky after that fireball. Sonic booms, thunderous sounds, rumbles, sizzling, etc etc.... those sounds are concurrent with fireballs exploding directly overhead; within at least 50kms of you.

Still thinking meteorites could be on the ground. I have the trained eye on how to find them and would love to hear from you.

Thanks

[Abe Johnsen]

Are you sure it was that far south? My buddy and his kid saw it on the way out to our place they were going south on Hwy 41 from Vermilion. It’s hard to judge where or how far but he guessed south east of wainwright..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[FCLightning]

Originally Posted by Abe Johnsen

Are you sure it was that far south? My buddy and his kid saw it on the way out to our place they were going south on Hwy 41 from Vermilion. It’s hard to judge where or how far but he guessed south east of wainwright..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, we were driving on 36 just north of 12 and it was far to the south of us there. But if they saw it as east of 41 then I think he should be looking further east than he is.

[Arachnodisiac]

I'm in Redcliff, and travel the area plenty, but sadly, missed the excitement.
However, if you're ever in rattlesnake country in the good months of the year, I am always happy to go hiking with someone that also likes to look at the ground for hours on end. You look for heavy space rocks, I will look for snakes.

(That said, I would be fascinated to see how you look and what you're looking for!)

[WayneChristie]

Originally Posted by pinelakeperch

I saw a meteorite come down in late September or early October near Rolling Hills.

landed in my backyard actually that was probably the same one I saw from the river but it was a lot closer to the hat

[Sooner]

On Feb 8th around 5 ish I was sitting on my sled in the Black Bear grazing lease North of Westlock with friends. I was the only one facing south and staring at the blue sky when a huge flash of light came down to the south east. Lasted about 2 seconds. It was not a shooting star, much larger. So cool to see.


I wonder how far away they really are when you see them. I guessed it could have been over Sask.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by Arachnodisiac

I'm in Redcliff, and travel the area plenty, but sadly, missed the excitement.
However, if you're ever in rattlesnake country in the good months of the year, I am always happy to go hiking with someone that also likes to look at the ground for hours on end. You look for heavy space rocks, I will look for snakes.

(That said, I would be fascinated to see how you look and what you're looking for!)

Sounds like it could be hazardous to your health. Nice rock, reaching for it. Holy Crap!! Let's not forget, most of those things are tiny and burn up in the atmosphere.

Grizz

[rokman]

Originally Posted by Abe Johnsen

Are you sure it was that far south? My buddy and his kid saw it on the way out to our place they were going south on Hwy 41 from Vermilion. It’s hard to judge where or how far but he guessed south east of wainwright..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Abe,

Thanks for the message. Oh yes, quite certain. The physics of these things kinda bend the mind. Check it out: When they start to burn up, they are about 85kms up in the atmosphere. And when they stop burning, they are somewhere between 6km and 20km high. And during these few seconds of entry through out atmosphere, they are traveling from 25km/s, slowing down to terminal velocity (about 300mph.) Over those first seconds of falling, they cover an incredible distance in a short time. So, if you see a fireball out at an angle from your viewpoint (call it 30 degrees up from the skyline for example), that fireball is 85km high and either moving away from or directly to (DUCK!!) you, covering 25km per second. But because it's 85km high (and the average air liner cruises at 10km altitude), that thing is 100's of kms away from you. This is why fireballs of this magnitude I'm hunting for are observed from people sometimes over 500km's apart. Believe it or not, people in Swan River, Manitoba snapped awesome pictures of the fireball smoke trail from their town. So, to come back full circle, yes, certainly we *the meteor geeks* are certain the fireball terminated somewhere NW of Brooks and likely dropped stones older than the earth itself somewhere north of the Hat.
I eff***ing love this sshhh*** lol

[rokman]

Originally Posted by FCLightning

Well, we were driving on 36 just north of 12 and it was far to the south of us there. But if they saw it as east of 41 then I think he should be looking further east than he is.

Here's the reports that came in. This model predicts where the fireball started (green point) and where it ended (red point) and any meteorites that dropped would be just a little way (less than 75kms) out from the trajectory.

https://fireball.amsmeteors.org/memb...event/2020/688

[rokman]

Originally Posted by Arachnodisiac

I'm in Redcliff, and travel the area plenty, but sadly, missed the excitement.
However, if you're ever in rattlesnake country in the good months of the year, I am always happy to go hiking with someone that also likes to look at the ground for hours on end. You look for heavy space rocks, I will look for snakes.

(That said, I would be fascinated to see how you look and what you're looking for!)

Groovy!

But, when meteorites land it IS the perfect time of year lol.

All it takes is a trained eye and "plain rocks" vs "meteorites" becomes as apparent as night and day. I have people send me photos all the time asking if what they've found is a meteorite. And in the 12 years I've been doing it, not one person has come forth with an actual meteorite. They have very distinguishing features (all that have weird vocabulary, but simple to see)
fusion crust: black "fuzzy" crust on the outside of the rock. Egg-shell thin (or thinner; never thick)
Light grey interior (envision what moon rock looks like; grey... that's it)
Regmaglypts: small indentations, very smooth to the touch, about the size of a thumb print; actually kinda like pressing a thumb through clay would make about the right shape
roll-over lip: small lip on one edge of the rock; it's from the rock melting in the atmospher
flow-lines: when the little bits of metal in the rock get melted, they flow on the outside of the rock and when they harden, the end result are stark black thin (sub-millimetre) lines that stretch across the rock.

Next to that, the first thing I do when meteorite hunting and think I've "spotted" one on the ground, is I take a stick that I carry with me (sawed off hockey stick) and stick it to the rock (because I have a rare earth magnet attached to the end of it.) and if the rock sticks, WHAMMO! I am now excited and going to look closer at this rock; going to check for fusion crust, flow lines, roll-over lip and regmaglypts.

There's your cole's notes, arachnodisiac!

[rokman]

Originally Posted by Sooner

On Feb 8th around 5 ish I was sitting on my sled in the Black Bear grazing lease North of Westlock with friends. I was the only one facing south and staring at the blue sky when a huge flash of light came down to the south east. Lasted about 2 seconds. It was not a shooting star, much larger. So cool to see.


I wonder how far away they really are when you see them. I guessed it could have been over Sask.

I replied above with some of the physics behind these amazing things. Hope you read that for some insight into your question. You definitely saw the same fireball so many others saw at the same time on the same day. Your report would be of value too. Here's the link. It takes 5 mins and is super easy.

https://fireball.amsmeteors.org/memb...o/report_intro

[Arachnodisiac]

Super cool! Thanks for that. I will keep my eyes peeled as of March 20 or so, haha.

Originally Posted by rokman

Groovy!

But, when meteorites land it IS the perfect time of year lol.

All it takes is a trained eye and "plain rocks" vs "meteorites" becomes as apparent as night and day. I have people send me photos all the time asking if what they've found is a meteorite. And in the 12 years I've been doing it, not one person has come forth with an actual meteorite. They have very distinguishing features (all that have weird vocabulary, but simple to see)
fusion crust: black "fuzzy" crust on the outside of the rock. Egg-shell thin (or thinner; never thick)
Light grey interior (envision what moon rock looks like; grey... that's it)
Regmaglypts: small indentations, very smooth to the touch, about the size of a thumb print; actually kinda like pressing a thumb through clay would make about the right shape
roll-over lip: small lip on one edge of the rock; it's from the rock melting in the atmospher
flow-lines: when the little bits of metal in the rock get melted, they flow on the outside of the rock and when they harden, the end result are stark black thin (sub-millimetre) lines that stretch across the rock.

Next to that, the first thing I do when meteorite hunting and think I've "spotted" one on the ground, is I take a stick that I carry with me (sawed off hockey stick) and stick it to the rock (because I have a rare earth magnet attached to the end of it.) and if the rock sticks, WHAMMO! I am now excited and going to look closer at this rock; going to check for fusion crust, flow lines, roll-over lip and regmaglypts.

There's your cole's notes, arachnodisiac!