A meteorite, dating back 4.5 billion years was inadvertently used as a doorstop.
Eastern Kentucky University has acquired a 33 pound meteorite that was previously being used as a door stop and a flower bed decoration.
The previous owners got a strong reading from a metal detector after scanning the rock.
They decided to bring the meteor in to be studied by Doctor Jerry Cook, the chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at EKU, who had it tested, and confirmed that the meteor is most likely a piece from the documented meteorite strike in Tazewell, Tennessee that was originally discovered in 1853. The owner’s late grandfather found the meteorite in a field in the 1930’s.. It’s estimated age is around 4 and a half billion years old.
The owners sold the meteor to Eastern Kentucky University, so that the school could put it on display. Cook told the EKU newspaper “We want kids to be able to touch it, lift it, and understand what it is…"
A 2 inch piece of rock found at a Novato California home has been confirmed as a piece of the fiery meteor that lit up the Bay Area skies recently. A woman found the rock in her yard, after it had hit her roof three days earlier.
