Free Republic

At a Glance A meteorite landed in western Cuba on Friday afternoon.Residents in the town of Viñales said they spotted the object streaking across the sky.No injuries were reported, though there are unconfirmed reports of damage.The meteor was seen on satellite and radar before hitting Cuba. Residents of a town in western Cuba said the area was rocked by what is believed to be a meteorite strike, and windows might have been blown out in some homes nearby. The meteor was seen on satellite and radar just before hitting Cuba. "We’re receiving reports that a meteor was seen in the...

You might want to reconsider your Valentine's Day plans this year: A superior gift is about to go on sale, and it came all the way from space. British auction house Christie's is soon to open online bidding on a heart-shaped meteorite, one that plummeted to Earth over Siberia in 1947. … Sarah Crowther, from the University of Manchester's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, told CNN that the specimen belongs to an uncommon group of iron meteorites known as IIAB. "There are currently 134 type IIAB iron meteorites, out of a total of over 60,000 known meteorites, so this...

News Archives WARNING:  If talk about "End Time Events" disturbs you in any way, please, and we do mean, please leave this article. It is without doubt, the most disturbing end time scenario we have ever seen, mainly because of the references, articles and coincidences that the writer points to. We are not admitting the information revealed is accurate, but it does sound like events described in Revelation, in fact, the person who is posting the messages makes references to this fact and they are not a Christian.  With that said, here is the article: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear Bush Country,...

Researchers have shown that ancient Egyptian iron beads held at the UCL Petrie Museum were hammered from pieces of meteorites, rather than iron ore. The objects, which trace their origins to outer space, also predate the emergence of iron smelting by two millennia. Carefully hammered into thin sheets before being rolled into tubes, the nine beads – which are over 5000 years-old - were originally strung into a necklace together with other exotic minerals such as gold and gemstones, revealing the high value of this exotic material in ancient times. The study is published in the Journal of Archaeological Science....

Despite the name, there was iron in the Bronze Age. It was just extremely rare. Most famously, the pharaoh Tutankhamun had a headrest, bracelet and dagger made of iron. Other iron artifacts from the same time have also been found around the globe. The existence of these artifacts has led to an archaeological debate: was there, in fact, iron smelting in the Bronze Age? According to a new chemical analysis, the answer is no. The iron humans had during the Bronze Age came from space.

King Tut owned a dagger that was out of this world—literally. Researchers have recently published a study in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science that supports what has long been suspected: The ancient Egyptians were using meteoritic iron well before the spread of iron smelting technology. The recent study on King Tut’s dagger, led by researchers from Italy and Egypt, used X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry to analyze the composition of the iron blade. Iron meteorites mostly contain iron and nickel, and the results of the XRF analysis on King Tut’s dagger confirm that the blade is mostly composed of iron...

Italian and Egyptian researchers analyzed the metal with an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer to determine its chemical composition, and found its high nickel content, along with its levels of cobalt, “strongly suggests an extraterrestrial origin”. They compared the composition to known meteorites within 2,000km around the Red Sea coast of Egypt, and found similar levels in one meteorite.

We may still be looking for proof that aliens exist, but new research into some very curious ancient tools now reveals that humans were using extraterrestrial material long before mankind even dreamed of flying out of Earth’s atmosphere. The findings, which were published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, reveal that some incredibly old iron artifacts date to a time well before humans had the technological wit to smelt iron ore, and as it turns out, the iron used in their construction actually fell from the sky. Archaeologists have long suspected that the iron occasionally found amongst Bronze Age artifacts...

Central Michigan University geology professor Mona Sirbescu gets asked all the time if rocks people possess are meteorites, valuable rocks from space. "For 18 years, the answer has been categorically 'no'... But this latest rock was the real thing..." "I could tell right away that this was something special," she said of the 22-plus pound meteorite, described as the sixth-largest recorded find in Michigan and worth potentially $100,000. "It's the most valuable specimen I have ever held in my life, monetarily and scientifically," she added. David Mazurek says he took his doorstop to the university for examination in January, after...

A 22-pound rock that has been propping open a door in Michigan for decades turns out to be a meteorite valued at $100,000, according to Central Michigan University. Mona Sirbescu, a CMU geology professor, gets asked all the time by people to examine the rocks they bring her — but none ever turn out to be an official space rock. “For 18 years, the answer has been categorically ‘no’ — meteor wrongs, not meteorites,” Sibescu said in a statement from CMU on Thursday. But that all changed when she was asked to examine an oddly shaped large rock that a...

A Michigan man recently discovered that the rock he had been using as a doorstop for years was actually a meteorite valued at at least $100,000. ..."For 18 years, the answer has been categorically 'no' — meteor wrongs, not meteorites," Sirbescu said jokingly in a CMU statement. It wasn't until this year that her answer was finally changed to a yes. ...After purchasing the land, the man put the rock to good use — a trusty doorstep like it had been for most of its Earth life. That's how it landed with Sirbescu, who then took the meteorite to one...

After a catastrophic fire blazed through the National Museum of Brazil on Sunday (Sept. 2), destroying many of the institution's 20 million artifacts, the museum's meteorites were some of the few relics left standing. Among the space rocks that survived the blaze is the Bendegó meteorite, which is the largest meteorite ever found on Brazilian soil. The iron-nickel meteorite is one of about a dozen meteorites housed at the museum. … Officials have not yet been able to tally the damages, as investigators have been instructed to hold off on their work until engineers declare the building safe to enter,...

Pressure sensors detected a depressurization in the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday night. The crew had to search for a leak, which was eventually traced to the Russian space capsule docked with the station. The leak was found in the Soyuz craft, which is docked with the ISS, reported Russian space chief Dmitry Rogozin. The official said air was being sucked out through a 1.5mm fracture, which may have been caused by a micrometeorite impact. “The crew safety is not in danger,” he said. “The spaceship will be kept, a repair kit will be used.” Rogozin said the malfunction...

Enlarge ImageGreen gold. A complex geological process produced this sample of nickel sulfide. Credit: Marco Fiorentini, Science Those spare nickels in your pocket might not be there without the help of ancient volcanoes that blasted sulfur dioxide into the sky billions of years ago. The discovery solves a mystery that has dogged researchers for decades, says geochemist Edward Ripley of Indiana University, Bloomington, who was not affiliated with the study. The nickel in ore deposits is actually nickel sulfide, a compound that is rich in sulfur. The sulfur is "critically important," says geochemist Douglas Rumble of the Carnegie Institution...

Fiery chunks of rock are constantly bombarding the planetary bodies of our solar system, leaving behind long-lasting scars. These gouges, in the form of craters, can be used to learn about the history of our little nook in the vast universe, prompting scientists to study their features feverishly. Yet one pattern commonly found around craters has remained a puzzle. Sometimes, these craters contain radial rays of debris fanned out around the impact zone. In the lab, scientists have tried to reproduce these patterns by dropping balls into containers of sand or beads, yet have found little success. But in a...

From analysis of radar signals, Marc Fries, NASA Cosmic Dust Curator, concluded it was a meteorite about the size of a golf cart that broke apart and splashed down into the ocean about 16 miles off the coast. Approximately two tons of fragments are likely scattered over a half-mile of seafloor. “This is easily the biggest recorded meteor fall in the United States in 21 years,” Luckily, a nearby research ship is in the middle of a survey mission, and they have some high-tech tools to aid in the scavenger hunt.

A boulder-sized asteroid designated 2018 LA was discovered Saturday morning, June 2, and was determined to be on a collision course with Earth, with impact just hours away. Because it was very faint, the asteroid was estimated to be only about 6 feet (2 meters) across, which is small enough that it was expected to safely disintegrate in Earth's atmosphere. Saturday's asteroid was first discovered by the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey, located near Tucson and operated by the University of Arizona. Although there was not enough tracking data to make precise predictions ahead of time, a swath of possible locations...

A local farmer near Ottosdal in North West has shared CCTV footage of what appears to be a meteorite hitting the earth at 18:49 Saturday night. According to a member of a neighbourhood watch, who shared the video with OFM News on social media, they were doing night patrol in the area of Hartbeesfontein when they received reports from Klerksdorp, approximately 30 kilometres away. People reportedly saw ‘a light’ falling from the sky and initially thought it was an aeroplane. He told OFM News that everyone came together and started searching, but shortly thereafter received the CCTV footage from Barend...

On October 25, a strange craft was seen — in broad daylight — flying amid the heavy traffic of the United States’ air corridors above the state of Oregon. Pilots radioed in reports of an aircraft flying outside registered flight plans. It was not responding to radio calls. It had no collision-avoidance transponders. But it was always just outside clear sight. On the ground, air traffic control was also seeing strange things. Its radar was intermittently tracking an unregistered object moving at unusually high speeds. It was cause for real concern. After all, 9/11 showed the potential havoc aircraft flying...

The first fragments were located Thursday by professional hunters Larry Atkins and Robert Ward of Arizona, according to the American Meteor Society. Atkins owns Cosmic Connection Meteorites, while Ward operates Robert Ward Meteorites. a New York City resident and meteorite consultant to Christie's auction house, is offering $20,000 for a recovered fragment weighing at least 1 kilogram.