Meteorite hunter finds 3 rocks from Michigan meteor

Meteorite hunter finds 3 rocks from Michigan meteor in Hamburg Township
Laura Colvin and Hasan Dudar, Detroit Free Press Published 5:45 p.m. ET
Jan. 18, 2018 | Updated 9:42 p.m. ET Jan. 18, 2018

(This guy did not sit, and whine about how unlikely it would be,
he figured, then went out in cold and started searching.
Luck goes to the hard workers!)

International meteorite hunter Robert Ward talks about the three samples
he found on a lake in Hamburg Township. Gillis Benedict/Livingston Daily

Robert Ward, a planetary field researcher, says he spotted a pecan-size
specimen peeking out of the snow 15 minutes into his hunt.
636518855971469035-Meteorite-finder-01.jpg
(Photo: Gillis Benedict/Livingston Daily)

A grin stretched across Robert Ward’s face Thursday afternoon as he
talked about the three meteorites he found in less than four hours.

“It’s a really spectacular specimen,� the researcher said, showing off
the largest of rocks he found on a frozen Hamburg Township lake. “Two
days ago, this was hundreds of thousands of miles past the moon, and now
I’m standing here holding it in my hand. It’s been a real good day.�

Tuesday's news of a meteor passing over metro Detroit and exploding in
the atmosphere over Livingston County has brought out meteorite hunters
like Ward to search for the precious stones. NASA scientists say the
meteor broke up about 20 miles over Earth and showered most of its
fragments along a 2½-mile swath in Hamburg Township, just west of the
burg of Hamburg.

While dozens of amateur meteorite hunters perused a Hamburg Township
park, Ward — and the team he brought to town with him — knew exactly
where to look.

Mo Where NASA has located meteorites in Livingston County

Mo Michigan meteor: Here's everything we know

“We had really good data on this one,� he said. “The seismic data lined
up with Doppler data and the witness data. Everything came together on
this one.

Ward, a freelance planetary field researcher for scientists at different
institutions, said he found his first meteorite — the size of pecan —
at 9:50 a.m, only about 15 minutes into his hunt Thursday morning.

"I just saw a little black spot and that was it, but you know, so I was
very fortunate to make the recovery but undoubtedly there’s more out
there," Ward said.

Meteorite hunter Robert Ward walks to the beach of
Meteorite hunter Robert Ward walks to the beach of a lake in Hamburg
Township Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, having found three meteorites so far.
(Photo: Gillis Benedict/Livingston Daily)

He was right. He found another one shortly before 1 p.m. and another
while he was on the phone with a Free Press reporter at about 1:39 p.m.

"I just found a meteorite, man!" Ward said over the phone after
discovering what he described as a walnut-sized stone. Shortly after, he
added: "All right man, it's happening."

Ward said he goes on a hunt about three times a year, usually outside
the U.S.

“I’ve been arrested and tried for spying in the Middle East and almost
abducted by the FARC — the cocaine guerillas — in Colombia," he said.

Given the chance, would he chose a different career?

“No,� he said. “No way.�

Ward said he plans to stay around until Sunday.

“I’m sure I’ll be back,� he said.

Every meteorite recovered, he said, adds to the knowledge of how the
planets and other bodies in the solar system formed.

It can also be financially rewarding.

Darryl Pitt, a New York City resident and meteorite consultant to
Christie’s auction house, is offering $20,000 for 1 kilo of recovered
specimen.

Mo 'Buy at your own risk': Meteorites for sale online in metro Detroit

Mo Meteors can go from pretty ... to pretty deadly, history shows

All the meteorites known to exist, Pitt said, weigh less than the
world’s annual output of gold.


“Meteorites are exceedingly rare,� Pitt said. “And every meteorite
that’s found here, every single one, it’s gonna sell for at least its
weight in gold.�

Pitt, who spoke to the Free Press on his way to the airport to fly to
Detroit, was expected to hunt for meteorites Friday morning.

The way to spot meteorites, he said, is to get a sense of the topography
and rocks in an area and look for what seems out of place in regard to
the surroundings.

"The most important thing is to look for something that seems unnatural
to the rest of the environment," Pitt said.

Ward, who flew in overnight Wednesday to metro Detroit from Prescott,
Ariz., said it's going to become easier in the weeks to come to spot the
stones as the snow melts.

Ward said they talk to landowners and get permission to hunt, and they
don't normally give specific locations.

Mo Possible meteor over metro Detroit has everybody cracking jokes

"We don't want a whole bunch of people rushing in and ruining their day
after they've been nice enough to help us," Ward said. "You know,
everybody thinks they're gonna go in, and you know, pick up what we
missed but when we're done, there's really not anything to miss unless
it's below the snow."

Meteorite hunters who think they struck gold can have their find
inspected by experts during a pop-up event from 1-4 p.m. Saturday at the
Cranbrook Institute of Science, 39221 Woodward Ave, Bloomfield Hills.
The analysis is free with museum admission.

Screen grab of footage of a suspected meteor.
Screen grab of footage of a suspected meteor. (Photo: Chris Laine)

Contact Hasan Dudar: .

https://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...ke/1044529001/

On Friday, January 19, 2018 at 4:35:45 PM UTC-8, a425couple wrote:
Meteorite hunter finds 3 rocks from Michigan meteor in Hamburg Township
Laura Colvin and Hasan Dudar, Detroit Free Press Published 5:45 p.m. ET
Jan. 18, 2018 | Updated 9:42 p.m. ET Jan. 18, 2018


used google maps or a mapping thing app to find them + 2