Mr-Meteorite

Successful Meteorite Hunting 101

by Ruben Garcia

It happens quite often that “would be” meteorite hunters contact me for help in finding their first meteorite. The question most often asked by a newbie is,” How can I find a meteorite?” The answer to this question is quite simple, even if actually doing so is not. The art of finding a meteorite really boils down to just two things, 1) Go to where meteorites are likely to be. 2) Learn to recognize a meteorite.

Not long ago I received an email from Mike Morgan, a successful part-time gold hunter that had read about some of my meteorite adventures. Mikes email was simple and to the point. He wondered if I could supply coordinates to some of my Franconia meteorite finds in hopes of finding one himself. I answered with ten or so such coordinates, wished him luck, and that was that. A week or two later Mike sent me another email thanking me for my help and saying that he did indeed find a meteorite! He was very excited and couldn’t wait to do it again. Shortly thereafter he informed me that he had found several meteorites in the Gold Basin area! Mike had found meteorites from two different strewn fields using his metal detector, but he wasn't satisfied, and the questions kept coming.

Mike had already learned that he could find meteorites where they have been found before. However, what he really wanted was to find a "new" unique meteorite. I explained to him that meteorites are likely to be in areas where the ground has remained undisturbed for a very long time. Since scientists guess that about one meteorite falls per square mile every thousand years, the older the ground is the better. After weeks of emailing each other I decided to ask Mike if he wanted to join me in a desert meteorite hunting expedition. I thought it would be a bit more educational if he could actually experience what I'd been telling him for himself. Mike quickly accepted my offer and we begun making plans for our trip right away. We decided to try our luck at Red Lake, a dry lake bed about 35 miles north of Kingman, Arizona.

I found 3 Meteorites, a 4 gram fragment, a 7 gram individual and a 17 gram individual.

January 21, 2007 was probably not the worst day we could have chosen to go on a meteorite hunting excursion, but it was close. I woke at 4:30 A.M. to hear the local news station forecast snow for the Phoenix Metro area! I put my mind somewhat at ease when after checking local Kingman weather via the internet it said "sunny skies". With my trusty "gig bag" filled with all my necessary hunting gear I strolled out into the freezing rain, hopped in my truck and set out towards Kingman, Arizona.

Not more that about an hour into my uneasy drive through the unrelenting rain it happened. The rain that had at first been only a nuisance turned to snow. The big, round, fluffy snow flakes that began blanketing everything in sight also made for a dangerous ride. After a few miles of slipping and sliding I called Mike and told him that I thought we should cancel.

Mike sounded a little disappointed at the news but was very understanding. However, he told me that from his vantage point in California the skies were very clear. I decided to try again. By the time that I had begun traversing the semi-mountainous pass I could see that Mike was correct and the clouds had begun breaking up.

I noticed that we were right on schedule as we both arrived in Kingman at around 8:30 A.M. After a short greeting in the parking lot of the local gas station Mike followed as I drove north through town towards Red Dry Lake. It was just after 9:00 A.M. when we finally made it to the dry lake bed and I was relieved to see that the internet was correct, it was very sunny. Unfortunately for us, the internet weatherman that had so accurately predicted sunny skies had neglected to mention the freezing cold wind. We parked our vehicles, and shivered somewhat uncontrollably as we unloaded our four-wheelers and quickly planned our assault on the lake.

Mike found a nice 10 gram fragment that fit like a jigsaw puzzle with my 17 gram individual

Having parked over two miles from where I had found a few meteorites several months earlier we decided that we would meander slowly to that area. I explained to Mike that on a dry lake bed a meteorite can be found literally anywhere. So from atop our quads we zigzagged back and forth hoping to possibly spot an elusive extra-terrestrial stone on the way over. About a mile and a half into our ride I spotted an area that looked good and went over to take a closer look. Not wanting to miss out Mike followed closely and watched as I parked my quad and begun searching on foot.

Having never attempted finding a meteorite by sight alone, Mike felt a little like a fish out of water. Since I had spent some time schooling Mike via telephone he knew what we were on the lookout for. Knowing that most meteorites will stick to a strong magnet he also came prepared with a meteorite cane.

We were looking for any stone that was rusty brown or black in color. A meteorite almost always looks like a meteorite, in other words meteorites do have a different look than terrestrial rocks. Most meteorites will have cracks in the fusion crust and many have rusty spots all over due to the rusting flecks of nickel iron. I explained to Mike that I wanted to have the sun to my back as I walked westward. This technique is used very successfully by many experienced meteorite hunters. As the sunlight comes from behind it has a way of illuminating a meteorite and making it stand out among a plethora of terrestrial stones. Mike watched me for a few seconds and then began imitating my actions.

In unison we walked slowly westward for about one hundred feet then turned and walked quickly back east and then repeated the process over and over. By about 10:30 A.M. I spotted something, it was a small black stone with rusty-brown freckles that stood out in stark contrast to the terrestrial rocks around it. I waived my hands up high in order to get Mikes attention, “I found one, come check it out!” I yelled. Mike hurried over and shook his head up and down as his eyes locked onto the meteorite which by this time had my GPS resting near it. “Wow, that’s pretty obvious.” Mike said “I think I could’ve found that one.”

Here is my 17 gram on top and Mikes 10 gram on bottom.

Several very cold and windy hours passed and I started to wonder if we would have to end our search early do to the numbing cold. On more than one occasion I told Mike that I was freezing and that once he had found a meteorite we would have to leave. No sooner had I made that proclamation for about the third or forth time that I spotted another meteorite. This time it was a 4 gram fragment, not an amazing find by any means but it did lift both our spirits enough to continue a while longer.

Another grueling hour had passed when I looked up to see Mike waiving his hands. I walked over slowly to see this “newbie” looking a little confused. “I doubt it’s one, but it could be.” Mike said sheepishly. No sooner had I laid eyes on the brownish stone that was still firmly stuck in the dry lake bed that I said. “If it ain’t I’ll eat it.“ Mike looked up at me and questioned,” are you sure?” I assured him I was, and congratulated him on his first meteorite found by sight alone. It was about 1:30 P.M. by the time we had finished taking GPS coordinates and many insitu pictures of Mikes monster achievement.

I put my camera away, picked up my meteorite cane and had only walked about twenty feet when I spotted another meteorite. “Did you already find another?” Mike asked as he witnessed it leap to my magnet. “I think so.” I answered, being somewhat surprised myself. This one was the largest yet and it weighed in at a whopping 17 grams! After taking pictures and coordinated of this find I asked Mike if I could look at his find again. I compared Mikes 10 gram specimen to my latest 17 gram and instinctively put them together. To both of our surprise they fit together like pieces of a jig-saw puzzle!

Feeling quite ecstatic about our latest finds we once again decided we should press on. But after another forty five minutes of hunting I spotted Mike kneeling behind his quad trying feverishly to warm his frigid hands on the muffler. It was at that point I realized, it really was time to leave.

We reached our vehicles at about 4:00 P.M. feeling good about our day. Mike said that he had learned a lot and seemed very appreciative for the experience. I think that I too learned something. In a hobby that so guarded and secretive, it is actually very rewarding to help someone as hardworking, eager and diligent as Mike to find one of the greatest treasures of all, a rock from space.