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
very nice web site. I have been interrested in meteor hunting fot years.
Thank you… Just keep checking back, the meteorite information here is constantly being updated and added to. Good luck out there!
will enjoy my first trip this year LQQKing for these gems in the southwest. been always dreaming of retiring and doing so. : )
Good luck out there…
I have been looking for information on how to build a large antenna for a metal detector to put on my UTV .
I am looking to cover more ground on my metorite hunts. thanks
Antenna or coil?
Because Mcafee sucks…
Really it does, Avast rocks! We had a small hack about 6 months ago, and got rid of him quickly, during that short few days Mcafee marked our site red. We’re trying to resolve the issue with them to get the site removed from their list.
i haven’t ever hunted for meteors yet but i cant seem to find any known strewn fields in my area of California. it seams no body want to give actual locations. how can i find an area, please don’t say in a desert
Russ, Meteorite strewnfield maps are like Gold Mine maps. People aren’t very likely to just give you access to them or their hard earned data. Also, I’m sorry you don’t want to hear that meteorites are in the desert. But they are. It’s where they are found most of the time. Meteorites are very rare finds. Meteorite strewnfields are much, much more rare. It’s not really public knowledge, and there are very few other places online besides here on Meteorites USA, where you can find meteorite maps.
Does anyone know if you need to apply for a permit to hunt meteorites in Arizona? My son is adament about going hunting on our next trip and we planned on going to Holbrook – we have already been informed that it is probably a lost cause since most areas in the state are totally picked over and the guy told us that “newbies” have no clue what they are doing and that only the experienced with be able to find anything – but my son doesn’t care….we just can’t seem to find the info of whether or not we need a permit to hunt in Holbrook….any ideas? Thanks
Hi J, It seems the person that told you “…it is probably a lost cause since most areas in the state are totally picked over…” and then went on to insult you and every other new meteorite hunter by saying “…“newbies” have no clue what they are doing and that only the experienced with be able to find anything…” is too negative to listen to. Don’t listen to people like this, they are jerks, and THEY don’t know what THEY are talking about. In fact, I tell people that say things like that, this: http://www.meteoritesusa.com/meteorite-photos/to-all-the-naysayers/
Also, there are PLENTY of meteorite left in Arizona and EVERY other state in the USA. It can NEVER be completely picked clean since meteorites fall ALL the time, it’s just that most meteorite falls are not witnessed. In addition, meteorites have been falling on this planet for billions of years, anyone that says an entire state has been picked over, obviously doesn’t know much about meteorites.
Pick ANY 10 square mile area in the remote desert that’s accessible, and you can probably find a meteorite there if you look long and hard enough.
Meteorites are out there for EVERYONE to find, and ANYONE can find them if they do some research before hunting. First is learning as much as you can about what they look like. Viewing photos online is a very good way to learn. Then watch all the good meteorite hunting videos http://www.mhcmagazine.com/blog/meteorite-hunting-videos/
There is no “meteorite hunting license” issued by any federal, state, or local government or agency that I know of. There is a gray area when hunting on federal land. Many meteorite hunters hunt on and find meteorites on federal land all the time. Finders usually send a small sample to a lab to have it classified (unless found in a known strewnfield). Once classified it’s then submitted to the Meteoritical Society’s Nomenclature Committee for naming. This data is then recorded forever in the Meteoritical Bulletin Database of all the classified meteorites of the world.
So technically, anyone who finds a meteorite and has it classified is contributing to the advancement of science!
Hope this helps…
Eric
Thanks for encouraging us enthusiastic newbies! I figure they are everywhere, just some are maybe very deep, but, I have always noticed unusual rocks and now remember some that might have been meteorites (rounded with darker crust, lighter inside where they had broken). Now, I will look more closely! I live in Kansas and am glad to hear many have been found all over the state. Thanks again!
Hey, I had a friend who regularly continued to find small meteorites outside Meteor Crater in Arizona where there weren’t supposed to be anymore to be found. The Meteorite Men on the Science Channel continue to find lots in areas thought to be thoroughly picked over.
Thanks Eric -I REALLY appreciate your time! I was a little put off by the comments the guy made but it made me want to do it that much more….and he is supposed to be a major hunter. I mean all the “experts” were “newbies” at one time! I think this may turn into a passion for my son and he has been really exicted about meteorites for the past year. Thanks so much for the boost of confidence!
I just went out meterorite hunting this past weekend and found 4 rocks that stuck to my magnet. There is one of the bunch that I really think has a chance at being a meteorite. it the size of a walnut and I would like to get it tested. How or where do I go to get a sample of it cut off for testing or should I send the whole piece?
now i know meteorites are worth mucho deniro, i wanna go back to the place i saw 2 meteors., but. one was 10 yrs ago the other was maybe 14 yrs ago. in the south central usa, where it is relatively humid, and like i said its been yrs ago. with all the snowy winters and rains for the last few yrs. what r my chances of finding a valuable meteorite? . No one talks about these strewn fields . i am pretty sure not many people saw the huge meteor i saw at 4 am . if i had known then there was money in these things wow id been right over there. but ne way. yrs later guess it doesnt hurt to go look
I hate to burst your bubble, but even professional hunters won’t chase a fireball on 1 witness sighting, even their own. If you saw two “meteors” as in fireballs in the air, and there were no other witnesses, meaning you only have your one single line of sight, there’s not enough data to triangulate the location. The chances of finding anything in this circumstance is almost nil. Not being negative. Trust me on this one, even with solid radar data, camera videos, maps, satellite photos and “multiple” eyewitness reports pointing to where the Mifflin Meteorite fell, many “professional” hunters went home skunked, and some only found 1 piece in as many as 9 hunting days. This with some of the best data available at the time, and way more data than what you have for your fireball/meteor. Like I said, this isn’t supposed to be discouraging, it’s just simply not likely you will find anything without at least another eyewitness or video to the fireball so you can triangulate the fall point. Ask yourself these questions. (please don’t respond to these questions in the comments as they are meant only as examples of the data you need to know)
When you saw the fireball(s)/meteor(s) was there fragmentation? (did it break into many pieces)
Did you hear ANY noise associated with the meteor/fireball or a sonic boom? (helps determine distance if you were close to the fall area)
Did you witness it explode, flash, or blink out (go dark)?
Did it disappear behind the horizon? (if it disappeared behind a mountain, or the horizon, it was most probably 100 miles or more away.)
How far away was the meteor? (this is a trick question as meteors/fireballs are much further away than the appear)
What was the altitude?
What was the direction of travel or “flight path”?
Which direction were you facing, North, South, East, West?
Point being, there’s LOTS of data that needs to be compiled before you head out chasing fireballs. Very few professional hunters will do it unless there is solid data.
Hope this helps.
Eric
Thank You, you had answers to the questions i had without posting all my questions. thanks u answered a lot for me.
what approximate distance would it be if one hears a sonic boom? i did not hear one but am curious.
and ok u hardly ever hear of weather men saying ahh that’s a meteor on radar. so they must see em, right? and not mention it, I suppose one could call the station and ask about a particular one. yea wow a lot of data to compile, guess i was just hoping to get lucky.
both did disappear over the horizon, but man they were huge fireballs. i remember vividly directions i was facing and direction of travel of fireballs.
I assume without having perused this site too much, that this is the best place to get info on recent sitings?
thanks
Glad I could help… I don’t know of any meteorologists/weathermen who keep fireball/meteor data secret. In fact if there’s a meteor/fireball that is witnessed by people in the area it’s usually on the news because it’s good for ratings. The issue then becomes (which most meteorologists don’t check) is whether doppler radar captured the fireball event or not. It’s not usually something they look for.
As far as sonic booms go and the distance from a fireball event you can hear one. It depends… Sound travels through the air at different speeds based on humidity, temperature and pressures at varying altitudes. Normally sound travels ~760mph or ~1108 ft/s (if my math is right). See Speed of Sound on Wikipedia
Most eye witnesses who also experience a sonic boom associated with a large fireball, are usually within 10-20 miles of the location of the fall. I believe (if I remember correctly) there was a fireball a year or so ago that I mapped out with a ~30 mile circle where witnesses reported hearing a sonic boom. Some witnesses have claimed they heard the boom simultaneously during the fireball event or immediately after the fireball extinguished and that it literally shook the ground or even broke windows, rattled doors and shook items off of shelves. This is usually within a couple miles of the event.
Hmmm… I’d like to think that this is the best place on the web to find info on the latest fireball sightings…
There are sites such as AMS Meteors (American Meteor Society) which logs fireball sightings via eye witness fireball reports, and they do a darn fine job! the IMO (International Meteor Organization) also has lots of info about meteors.
MeteoritesUSA.com is the the #1 ranked meteorite hunting website on the web, with a concentration on both fireballs and detailed meteorite hunting information, including strewnfield maps and lots of how to articles.
Enjoy…
Eric
Regarding witnessing fireballs, I and several others witnessed one late at night and I did a search on Google for it for that date and finally found where others had seen it, too. You might do a search so you can confirm the details and maybe find video or other info to the pinpoint the location where it may have gone down. It may have burnt up in the atmosphere, though, but could be fun to follow up on. The Meteorite Men on the Science Channel chase after new fireball reports quite often since those are exciting and worth more and have valuable info for scientific research, so don’t be discouraged.
awesome website goin up north to look for meteors its a fun thing to do
Hi! So glad to find a meteorite information site like this. Still having trouble finding a map with location of local meteorite finds. I live in Central Kansas and love watching The Meteorite Men on the Science Channel. They briefly showed a map marking all the 142 meteorite finds in Kansas while explaining that Kansas has lots of meteorite finds. I have always loved collecting rocks where ever I go, so, looking for meteorites is just an extension of my interest in rocks. I suspect they are everywhere, with some being too deep to easily find, but I want to see where and how existing ones have been found in my area.
Hi, I was wondering if there was any info on a possible meteorite that I seen about 20 years ago in perris, CA. It was the biggest one I have ever seen. I heard the sonic boom as well as what sounded like it hitting the earth a few seconds after the fire ball burned out in the sky. I was in perris when I saw it. it lit up the whole city and was south of my location traveling from NW to SE. It was in the summer time and around 2100 if I can remember right. Thanx…..
Here is a useful link to help get started. It has the listing of meteorites found before 2004 arrainged according to state and a brief bit of info about it plus the probable gps cordinates (or google map it). The library and public records at the courthouse will become your best friends after that. Nobody is going to do the research for you. Remember, the guys on tv do it for a living.
http://www.meteorites4sale.net/Locations/MLocations.htm
good luck and happy hunting!
Kayla, i would suggest in investing in a powerful magnet (can be found at most hardware stores for a few bucks) for recent fireball trackings and to confirm probable meteorites and if you get more into it then a good metal detector will help out for the ones buried deeply in the ground (old finds)
Years ago, I saw a meteorite flying through the sky but not where it landed. I never heard anything about it on the news or anyone finding one in the area which it was traveling. I’m trying to find a map of finds in Kansas to see if someone possibly found the one I saw traveling north of my location. What I’m getting at is that I need a map of Kansas finds. Do you know where I can get one?
i own a meteorite but had to buy one as sample to look at when i think i found one i get magnetic stones during rain storm when catching rain water need to look theere