April 16, 2010
Meteorites in Them Thar Fields
By EMMA GRAVES FITZSIMMONS
NY TIMES
On the first day, there was light. On the third, a land strewn with
meteorites. A spectacular meteorite shower that lighted the sky in several Midwestern
states Wednesday night sent meteorite hunters scrambling to get to
southwestern Wisconsin during the past two days for the pieces of rock from
outer space. Initial bragging rights went to Terry Boudreaux, a 49-year-old collector
from the Chicago area. After reports of a fireball in the sky surfaced
Wednesday night, Mr. Boudreaux calculated the meteorites' path and took his
two sons out of school Thursday to drive four hours to Livingston, Wis.
A fireball lighted the sky in Madison, Wis., Wednesday night, part of a
meteorite shower, as seen on a rooftop webcam operated by the University of
Wisconsin Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department.
They were dejected after a day of searching in vain, Mr. Boudreaux said,
when a dairy farmer approached them with a rock he had found in his
driveway and asked if it was a meteorite.
expected it to be a piece of asphalt." He said he gave the farmer $200 for the meteorite, which is about the size
of a quarter, and planned to donate it to the Field Museum of Natural
History in Chicago. He would not disclose the farm's location because he
did not want competition when he went back to look for more.
Paul P. Sipiera, adjunct curator of meteorites at the Field Museum, said
the fireball effect was a result of friction and heat generated when a
meteor hit Earth's atmosphere, which caused it to burn up and break apart.
Friday, said there could be hundreds of meteorites in the vicinity, with a
total value of as much as $1 million. They are often sold online or to
museums. "Something this big only happens once every few years," Mr. Farmer said.
"It will be like a gold rush."