CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Meteorite hunters from states away are heading to Northeast Ohio to find fragments of what shook up St. Patrick’s Day.
A fireball lit up skies across the top of the Buckeye State Tuesday morning after a seven-ton asteroid entered the atmosphere and broke apart over Medina County, NASA confirmed.
Tens of thousands of people heard and felt an explosion all over Northeast Ohio and into Pennsylvania and New York Tuesday morning.(Source: Olmsted Falls Schools/NWS Pittsburgh)
The space agency said the meteor was first detected at 8:57 a.m. off Lake Erie near Lorain. It traveled more than 34 miles through the atmosphere before breaking up, with some fragments falling to the ground.
“That’s a rocky or metal piece, a fragment that’s floating through space, that comes in contact with our atmosphere; it’s that friction that creates that streak of light that we see,” said JonDarr Bradshaw, a community engagement coordinator for the Great Lakes Science Center. “It’s very rare, because the earth has such a thick atmosphere, that that particle, that object actually makes it all the way to the ground.”
Meteorologist Kelly Dobeck noted that once a meteor reaches the ground, it is classified as a meteorite.
Hunters travel across state lines
Roberto Vargas came from Connecticut to Northeast Ohio and found a 12.2-gram piece on Wednesday.
Carl Dietrich of South Carolina also scoured the area. He found pieces of the meteorite in a parking lot on Thursday.
“Driving around looking for piles of grayish rocks,” Dietrich said. “It hit in a parking lot and you just see a pile on the ground.”
Meteorite hunters from states away find fragments in Northeast Ohio (Roberto Vargas of Connecticut)(WOIO)
The two met in Sharon Center, a small town that has become a meeting place for meteorite hunters.
“I started packing,” Vargas said after hearing the big boom on Tuesday.
Most of the meteor burned up on its way down. Vargas estimates hunters are searching for just 1% of what was originally a seven-ton meteor.
Meteorite hunters from states away find fragments in Northeast Ohio (Carl Dietrich of South Carolina)(WOIO)
“It’s a bit of gamble too, because you spend a bunch of money going to different places and you don’t know if you’re going to find anything,” Dietrich said.
“I had just been to a hunt in Germany unsuccessfully, so my spirits were pretty low,” Vargas said. “So, this was the shot that I needed.”
What to look for
Hunters search for black rocks with a shiny outside or a gray inside.
“So, basically what I’d be looking for are black rocks,” Vargas said. “I’m probably looking for pieces, anywhere from 1 inch to 2 inches.”
Astronomer Jay Reynolds said Tuesday’s experience was once in a lifetime.
“A shared experience, the sound of meteors, something from space coming in,” Reynolds said. “It’s a big deal. How often does this happen, very rarely.”
Reynolds said people should look for something in their backyard that shouldn’t be there.
Meteorite hunters from states away find fragments in Northeast Ohio (Carl Dietrich of South Carolina)(WOIO)
Hunters need to find 20 grams of a specimen to send it off to a lab for research. Dietrich from South Carolina has already found that amount. Vargas from Connecticut has found 12.2 grams.
“These things are from outer space man,” Vargas said. “Like the rock that I had picked up yesterday had only been on earth for like a day.”
Meteorite hunter Dietrich estimated the little bits and pieces are going to sell for maybe $100 to $200.
The finds still need to be verified. Hunters must follow the law and cannot walk onto private property searching for meteorites.
If you believe you found a meteorite in your backyard, show us your pics!
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