Meteorite Hunting

Meteorite hunting in the United States.

Hi Everyone, Welcome To The New And Improved Meteorites USA

Like many people today that are curious about meteorites and meteorite hunting you probably want to know where you can find them. Well the quick and dirty answer to that is that you can find them anywhere. Meteorites have been falling on Earth since the beginning of time, or more appropriately since the birth of our planet. In fact meteorites or space debris is what formed our planet through what’s called accretion. (Read More About Planetary Accretion)

You can really find meteorites anywhere on our planet.
They’ve even been found on the ocean floor by fisherman trawling for fish with nets and by farmers plowing their fields. Usually you can find them in specific parts of our planet that are supportive of preservation of meteorite material, namely deserts and dry inland areas away from the coasts. This is not to say you can’t find a meteorite on the beach, you can, but meteorites usually have a high concentration of iron and they will rust away in a matter of a few decades if left in a salty and wet environment.

Meteorite Hunting on a Dry Lake Bed in Southern California

Meteorites In The USA
The best place in the United States to hunt is the deserts of the Southwest. California, Arizona, Nevada,  New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah. Many meteorites have also been found in the Midwest states such as Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. In fact, meteorites have been found in every state of the United States including Hawaii and Alaska.

There are almost 1600 meteorites found in the USA according to the Meteoritical Society Meteorite Database

There are meteorites all over the USA. Arizona has 96 listed as found, and Kansas has 156. Even Hawaii has 2 meteorites and there’s been 5 found in Alaska. Most people don’t realize that meteorites are everywhere around us, yet they are one of the rarest rocks on Earth because they are so hard to find.

Where to hunt
First make sure you have permission to hunt any given piece of property. This is first and foremost the most important rule of meteorite hunting. Always get permission from the landowner to hunt the land “before” you ever step foot on the property. Work out a deal with the landowner to split a percentage of whatever meteorites you find with them, or pay them a fair price for any meteorites found on their property. Landowners will be more than willing to work with you if they know you’re going to be fair and honest with them. It is after all their land, treat landowners with respect and they’ll thank you for it with permission to hunt.

You can hunt any land that you have permission to hunt on and that is likely to hold meteorites. You can even hunt for meteorites in your backyard but unless you live in the desert or in the middle of a meteorite strewnfield you probably won’t find one there.

Meteorite Ownership: Who owns meteorites?
In the United States (as of this writing) meteorites are owned by the person or entity that owns the land a meteorite is found upon, and that landowner has all rights to the meteorite to sell or donate the specimen to science, universities or private collectors.

Federal land is a bit different. As the law states, meteorites are owned by the government if found on federal land. This is really a gray area of the law, and this article is NOT intended as legal advice and is not to be taken as such. Having said that you should check with your local government agency which manages the land in the area you wish to hunt. State owned land is the same thing. National Parks, Wilderness areas, and other such “parks” are illegal to hunt without some sort of permitting or special permission.

OK, so we’ve talked about the law, we’ve talked about the best places to hunt, and we’ve talked about who owns meteorites once they are found.

What about equipment?

Read my article on How To Find Meteorites