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Meteorite Hunter Offers $10,000 Reward for Canadian Meteorite
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by Jared Aicher - Storm Chaser | November 23, 2008 at 12:14 pm
2772 views | 66 Recommendations | 18 comments
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Meteorite Hunter Offers $10,000 Reward for Canadian Meteorite
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A bright meteor streaked across the skies of Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada on November 20, 2008 at approximately 5:26 PM MST, prompting telephone calls to police stations, NORAD, and news stations from North Dakota to Edmonton, Alberta. In Fact, so many calls were coming in to the Lloydminster, Alberta police station that they had to ask the NewCap News Team to ask people to stop calling in. Witnesses reported that the night sky turned to day and a deep rumbling was heard as the fireball streaked by overhead. Witnesses also reported that the fireball was followed by a thick smoke trail that lasted up to ten minutes. Locals at the Red Pheasant First Nation, 100 kilometers northeast of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, said the walls of their band office shook as the meteor passed overhead. A security camera at a Maidstone, Saskatchewan video store, located 50 kilometers southeast of Lloydminster, recorded the parking lot being illuminated twice as the meteor exploded overhead.
The Leonid Meteor Shower was active at the time of the fireball; however, the meteor was most likely an asteroid from the asteroid belt (located between Mars and Jupiter) that ranged in size from a basketball to a large desk. Officials believe that if the fireball made it to the ground, it fell south of Lloydminster, Alberta between Wainwright, Alberta and North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Reports of people searching for the meteorite are coming in as scientists, rock hunters and locals search the rural farm country around Macklin, Saskatchewan for any trace of the dramatic fireball. If the meteor broke up before it hit the ground, pieces could be spread over a very large area.
Currently, meteorite hunters are racing against Mother Nature to find the space rock. Snow flurries have left a dusting over the possible impact area, but above freezing temperatures have melted the thin layer of snow, allowing for the search to continue. If the heavy winter snows arrive on the Canadian prairies before the meteorite is found, searchers will have to wait for the spring thaw to resume their hunt.
Robert Haag, the world's foremost meteorite hunter and collector from Tucson, Arizona is keeping a close eye on any developments. He is offering a $10,000 (U.S.) reward for the first 1 (one) kilogram piece of the meteorite found and delivered to him. Haags' passion for meteorites has led to numerous meteoritic discoveries, and added an immense amount of knowledge to the scientific community.
Some tips for meteorite hunters:
1. Take a magnet with you! Meteorites are composed of Iron and Nickel and will draw a magnet.
2. Look for any rocks that are out of place.
3. Most meteorites are very dense, and appear to be very heavy for their size.
Good luck meteorite hunters! Now get out there and find that space rock!
Stay tuned as more information becomes available.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (18)
at 12:32 on November 23rd, 2008
Definitely read about the Leonid meteor shower...
at 12:42 on November 23rd, 2008
at 14:18 on December 3rd, 2008
Even the stony meteorites have iron and nickel in them. If you take a file and run it over the corner of a stony meteorite, you will see metal flakes. Some, like the Allende Meteorite, which is classified as a carbonaceous chondrite, are much harder to identify. The carbonaceous chondrites are very dark inside, with only minute amounts of nickel and iron visible. Stony meteorites will still usually draw a magnet, though not as strongly as iron meteorites.
at 13:10 on November 23rd, 2008
I like the idea of maverick meteor-hunters scouring the lonely prairies...
at 13:12 on November 23rd, 2008
Check out Jared's prior coverage here.
at 14:55 on November 23rd, 2008
I thought I had found one but I think it is dog poo. Do you get anything for dog poo?
at 16:02 on November 23rd, 2008
yes not all are metalic. A famous one in AU was stone, and the way to find them was to sniff - no not dog poo, but these had the smell of methylated spirits.
at 16:30 on November 23rd, 2008
Certainly a great find for anyone, though who would want to sell it, when you have a conversation piece on your coffee table, unless the meteorite is the size of your coffee table...Then.......
at 18:59 on November 23rd, 2008
Now get that Dog Sled and drag a huge magnet behind you...
at 19:02 on November 23rd, 2008
Great job on this as usual
at 21:49 on November 23rd, 2008
Thanks Amy -
at 07:10 on November 25th, 2008
I wonder what direction the meteor was travelling when it crashed?
I was in a gymnasium (in Unity Saskatchewan) at the time of the flyby, and I was shaking my head at the enthusiasm of some girls who happened to see it. They were only 8 years old, so I had little idea what this bright light in the sky was that they were talking about.
"It was a Bright light in the sky, and it WASN'T lightning" ; ) They were just gushing about it, and I thought it was kind of odd. Now I understand - I would have been gushing about it too if I'd seen it.
I love to hike the hills NW of Senlac (large areas of grazing coop, sandy aspen parkland). If the weather's nice, I'll scout around this weekend.
- Hank Vlietstra
at 08:35 on November 25th, 2008
Good luck Hank! Let us know if you find anything -
at 09:19 on November 25th, 2008
I meant to say the hills NE of Senlac, not NW of Senlac.
My coworker who lives out by Senlac tells me that the locals think the meteorite may have gone into Manitou Lake. If it did, I'm guessing that may help explain why there's not a speck of ice on that lake yet. I went to Manitou Lake last Saturday thinking it would be frozen by now, and I was meaning to check how the ice is doing because the skating might be good this year - no snow yet. I was somewhat surprised to see it hasn't frozen at all yet. Now at the time I assumed that I was completely misguided in my belief that it would freeze this early. It definately would be one of the last lakes to freeze, because the huge size of it results in more wave action than most lakes have.
I saw somebody driving around on a little-used 4-wheel drive trail down in the lake valley on Saturday. I thought that was a really odd thing to do on a windy rainy afternoon, but now I'm thinking they might have been meteor-hunting.
I hope that whoever hunts the meteors respects the land - there aren't a whole lot of people around there to keep an eye on things. It's deer and moose country.
at 22:17 on December 3rd, 2008
An update.
The meteorites were found on a cattle ranch nearby, of all places, a hamlet by the name of Lone Rock, Saskatchewan.
I agree that those that are looking for the meteorites respect the land and the land owner. Those meteors are his and those that go onto his land, without his permission, are trespassing.
at 11:51 on December 4th, 2008
What amazes me is that the experts are estimating that literally more than 1000 pebble-sized meteorite pieces fell to earth from that Lloydminster fireball. I had a look on a few small pieces of crown land last weekend, but I didn't have any luck. Then I saw there were about a dozen vehicles a couple kilometers away, scattered throughout Buzzard Coulee which is mostly private ranchland. Buzzard Coulee is where the first meteorites were discovered. Anyway, some of the searchers in Buzzard Coulee showed me the small pieces of space rock that they found. I had a magnet on me and I was surprised how magnetic these meteorite chunks are! The pebbles stuck to my magnet and wouldn't let go very easily.
It was good to see that a police officer was on site, but I was surprised that the police were not saying anything to those that were searching on private land. Several people were combing through the pasture land, but the police officer just watched them. I guess they wouldn't stop that unless specifically requested to do so by landowners?
Earlier this week, a larger piece was found - it is 28.5 pounds. I haven't seen a picture of it yet. They have not announced its exact location, which is probably wise. The purpose of publishing the search area in the first place was to help accelerate the search before the first snows, in hopes of finding samples to analyze. Now that samples have been found, hopefully locations of bigger pieces will be withheld to help prevent tresspassing by eager souvenir-hunters/treasure-hunters ($$).
I heard an interesting fireball-eyewitness story when I was talking to the Buzzard Coulee searchers... One fellow said he was on a flight from Calgary to Saskatoon when the meteor streaked past below the plane. Some of the passengers became alarmed that someone was trying to shoot down the jet. After some discussion, some of the passengers came to the conclusion that someone had probably shot a flare in the general direction of the plane. I would think that the pilots knew better than that, but you never know.
at 16:53 on December 7th, 2008
I have been serching for the meteorites around Lone Rock .To date I have found 13 pieces the smallest beening 6.3 g to the largest 414g, it was really exciting once the first one was found .Now the snow has landed ,we will have to waite till spring to see if we can find more GLTA Derren
at 10:40 on December 23rd, 2008
Just moved to Saskatoon a month ago. I heard about the meteorite and the search for pieces. I am so excited for spring. I plan to drive out to where it is believed the pieces are, and look for a day! Hopefully I'll find something, although I've never done anything like this before, and really don't know where to look. I don't even know Saskatchewan that well, as I moved from Ontario. Any suggestions Derren (or anyone!) about the best place to be looking??