Magnet draws toward but doesn't stick?

[A.J. Cline]

I'm posting pictures of what I believe I found to be a meteorite. Check it for magnetism, and it is to a degree. By that I mean the magnet is drawn toward it, but the magnet doesn't stick like on a refrigerator door. It's got the look, and the shape. I found this in SoCal. It appears that it has dents , also it looks like the one end was folded over from being too thin and extremely hot. The whole piece is about as big as my hand. I'll attach the pics you tell me what you think? Thanks for any help.

 

[Golddigger76]

I'm posting pictures of what I believe I found to be a meteorite. Check it for magnetism, and it is to a degree. By that I mean the magnet is drawn toward it, but the magnet doesn't stick like on a refrigerator door. It's got the look, and the shape. I found this in SoCal. It appears that it has dents , also it looks like the one end was folded over from being too thin and extremely hot. The whole piece is about as big as my hand. I'll attach the pics you tell me what you think? Thanks for any help.

Your rock looks like a common river polished rock.

Being slightly magnetic is a very common in multiple types of earth rocks .
I'm not a professional in this field but I have a few meteorites and have seen and held several.
They all have a fusion crust that is either black or rust if buried in the ground for a long period.
They all have multiple streaks that looks like they were melting when they were coming through the earths atmosphere.

You can always take it to a college or university to have it identified.

 

[Yggdrasil]

I'm posting pictures of what I believe I found to be a meteorite. Check it for magnetism, and it is to a degree. By that I mean the magnet is drawn toward it, but the magnet doesn't stick like on a refrigerator door. It's got the look, and the shape. I found this in SoCal. It appears that it has dents , also it looks like the one end was folded over from being too thin and extremely hot. The whole piece is about as big as my hand. I'll attach the pics you tell me what you think? Thanks for any help.

As Golddigger said no indication for this one to be a meteorite, unless it has been in a river for many thousands of years.
Magnetism is no test for meteorites, most meteorites has no magnetic properties.
Many rocks on the ground has magnetic properties.
Anyway 99.99% of all rocks on the ground has no significant value.
All Meteorites has value not from its content but from its legacy.

 

[galenrog]

IF metallic in appearance, and a common magnet does not stick, it is NOT a meteorite. To my knowledge, there are no known exceptions to this.

As already pointed out, there are many minerals and rocks that are mildly magnetic. I believe you have one of these.

There are several labs across the country that do tests for the public. Many are associated with museums or universities. They will charge a fee. Tests are destructive, so they will cut off a piece IF they, too, suspect your river rock to be a meteorite. Please note that most geologists have NO experience in identifying meteorites.

There are several websites that have testing procedures to determine if your rock warrants further scrutiny. They are outnumbered by websites that simply spout the material that falls from the hindquarters of a bull.

Sorry to say that a precious metals refining is not the best place for advice on your rock, but I have done my best.

Time for more coffee.

 

[goldshark]

I'm posting pictures of what I believe I found to be a meteorite. Check it for magnetism, and it is to a degree. By that I mean the magnet is drawn toward it, but the magnet doesn't stick like on a refrigerator door. It's got the look, and the shape. I found this in SoCal. It appears that it has dents , also it looks like the one end was folded over from being too thin and extremely hot. The whole piece is about as big as my hand. I'll attach the pics you tell me what you think? Thanks for any help.

I would say your rock has too many joints (cracks ), to be a meteorite. Probably a low iron content piece of rock.

 

[A.J. Cline]

Your rock looks like a common river polished rock.

Being slightly magnetic is a very common in multiple types of earth rocks .
I'm not a professional in this field but I have a few meteorites and have seen and held several.
They all have a fusion crust that is either black or rust if buried in the ground for a long period.
They all have multiple streaks that looks like they were melting when they were coming through the earths atmosphere.

You can always take it to a college or university to have it identified.

Take a look at the picture closer it's got streaks where it looks like it's come through the Earth's atmosphere and I've matched it to other meteorites there from Africa and other places and it looks just like them . However as you suggest I'll take it to the college and see what they say thank you.

 

[A.J. Cline]

As Golddigger said no indication for this one to be a meteorite, unless it has been in a river for many thousands of years.
Magnetism is no test for meteorites, most meteorites has no magnetic properties.
Many rocks on the ground has magnetic properties.
Anyway 99.99% of all rocks on the ground has no significant value.
All Meteorites has value not from its content but from its legacy.

That's contrary to what I've been told by geological experts in Old Town. They say most meteorites have a degree of magnetism because of nickel. Have they been BS'n me or is it true?

 

[Yggdrasil]

That's contrary to what I've been told by geological experts in Old Town. They say most meteorites have a degree of magnetism because of nickel. Have they been BS'n me or is it true?

There are many classes of meteorites.
Most are Rocky meterites and show no to little magnetism.
But a few are so called Iron class meteorites and they are highly magnetic due to the Iron and Nickel.
These geological experts are they actual Geologists or self proclaimed experts?

 

[galenrog]

That's contrary to what I've been told by geological experts in Old Town. They say most meteorites have a degree of magnetism because of nickel. Have they been BS'n me or is it true?

Most geologists have NO experience or training in identifying meteorites.

Read my above comment.

Time for more coffee.

Edited to add sentence.

 

[A.J. Cline]

I would say your rock has too many joints (cracks ), to be a meteorite. Probably a low iron content piece of rock.

There are no cracks in the rock. It's a solid piece no fault lines no faults. I had to hit it I had to hit it pretty hard with the rock hammer to get a little piece to chip off and I believe in one of the pictures it's sitting next to the Rock. Maybe I just didn't do a good enough job taking the pictures.

There are many classes of meteorites.
Most are Rocky meterites and show no to little magnetism.
But a few are so called Iron class meteorites and they are highly magnetic due to the Iron and Nickel.
These geological experts are they actual Geologists or self proclaimed experts?

It was the resident geologist at the Old Town mineral shop there in Old Town State historic Park

 

[Yggdrasil]

There are no cracks in the rock. It's a solid piece no fault lines no faults. I had to hit it I had to hit it pretty hard with the rock hammer to get a little piece to chip off and I believe in one of the pictures it's sitting next to the Rock. Maybe I just didn't do a good enough job taking the pictures.

It was the resident geologist at the Old Town mineral shop there in Old Town State historic Park

We have a saying here in the forum when people come with their "precious" ores.
Unless you have an assay it is a rock.

I'll adjust it a bit.
Unless you have a test it is a Rock.

Luckily you can do quite a lot of research on this topic yourself as long as you make sure you do not get the "fever".
There is massive amounts of information on the net.

The only way to be sure is to send it away for some proper tests though.

Electromicroscopy, isotopic mix testing and such and what not.

 

[A.J. Cline]

We have a saying here in the forum when people come with their "precious" ores.
Unless you have an assay it is a rock.

I'll adjust it a bit.
Unless you have a test it is a Rock.

Luckily you can do quite a lot of research on this topic yourself as long as you make sure you do not get the "fever".
There is massive amounts of information on the net.

The only way to be sure is to send it away for some proper tests though.

Electromicroscopy, isotopic mix testing and such and what not.

If I had the cash for all that testing and whatnot, I probably wouldn't be trying to find out here. I'll take it to the college and let them test it or whatever they have to do to it. Just thought maybe somebody here would be able to eyeball it. Thanks again.

 

[Yggdrasil]

If I had the cash for all that testing and whatnot, I probably wouldn't be trying to find out here. I'll take it to the college and let them test it or whatever they have to do to it. Just thought maybe somebody here would be able to eyeball it. Thanks again.

It is close to impossible to ID any rock by photos alone.
Luckily space creates some distinct mineralogy.
I wish you luck.

 

[A.J. Cline]

It is close to impossible to ID any rock by photos alone.
Luckily space creates some distinct mineralogy.
I wish you luck.

I'm going to have to check into it it's been a few years, but I had a professor up at SDSU that operated that analyzing machine. You know the one that's like on the Mars rover? Anyway if he's still there I'll let him check it out late one night this week. I'll let you know what I find out if I find out. But I'm not prone to fever! There's a lot more to the area that I'm surveying than just simple geology there's absolutely enormous history in the area. Most of it has to do with the Spaniards and father Sarah. Father Sarah was first a geologist before he ever became a priest. And the pope appointed him Saint Hood! The only way I see that happening is if he was responsible for putting a whole lot of cash in the Pope's pocket. And the only place he could have been getting it from is right here. When the natives rolled up the second time they killed everybody to a man and destroyed everything brick by brick. And disseminated the debris throughout. I've been at this for a few years. Discovered the first graveyard in the state of California. Historic society ended up changing out the plaque from that damn first palm tree that father Sarah planted here to the first graveyard. That's just a sample of what I found. And truth be told I've had more stolen from me than probably most people will ever find in their entire lives. I appreciate any help. But just because I'm broke don't mean I am without resources. If I'm out of line, and I posted this in the wrong spot. I apologize. But I'm old, getting older, and I don't have a lot of time for all this internet search and everything else that's going along with it. Here's a picture of one of the African meteorites that I was comparing mine to.

 

[goldshark]

A CLEAR picture of the freshly broken end, would be much more helpful to us. Zoom in as much as possible, while still providing a clear shot.

 

[A.J. Cline]

I'm on it give me a few minutes.

 

[A.J. Cline]

I'm on it give me a few minutes.

Here's the best photos I can take.

 

[galenrog]

Basalt is my best guess based on the images of the chipped end.

Many basalts are mildly magnetic. For over 25 years my home had a basalt gravel driveway. Most of those rocks could be picked up with a common magnet.

Time for more coffee.

 

[goldshark]

The joints I am referring to, are the lines going through the middle of all the pictures. The red streaks in them are oxidizing iron. A stony meteorite consists of Epidote ( green ) type mineral crystals, either by themselves, or combined with Fe/Ni metal. The crystals I see, look like Feldspar crystals (white ). There are meters from the Moon, and Mars, that resemble the same rock types here on Earth. This is about as far as I will go with it, as further testing gets rather involved. Is it a meteorite? Remember the Earth was, and still is getting bombarded from meteorites. This is how our planet formed. So if it is not currently a meteorite, it was at one point.

 

[kurtak]

I'm posting pictures of what I believe I found to be a meteorite.

Send it here for testing

http://www.meteorlab.com/

They will tell you if it is a meteorite or NOT

Kurt