Heres a strange piece

[JamesBondaka]

found this and dont know what it is....any ideas?

There appears to be some kind of crystalline structure embeded in the crevice end of the item.

 

[Djay-Mo]

Melted aluminum ? Meteorite ? Lead ? Strange looking thing whatever it is.

 

[moose]

I believe that if you put a magnet on it and it doesn't stick, you can eliminate meteorite. If it does stick, it's a posibility. Unfortunately I've never seen one to tell you otherwise.
Definately a strange piece indeed.

Moose

 

[mikeothmer]

Petrified Bat Poo Fortified with Iron !

 

[MHirschmann]

I thought I found a meteorite recently and so I did a lot of research. Don't take my word as a positive answer but after looking at hundreds of pictures, I never came across a meteorite photo that had that shape/color etc., so probably not a meteorite. Meteorites tend to be smooth, from burning through the atmosphere. They tend to have a thin black "crust" over them. Another way to test it would be to take the cover off your toilet and rub your find on the fine grit dull surface under the cover. If your find leaves a streak, it is not a meteorite. If it does not leave a streak, keep investigating. I am not a scientist, so don't take this as a professional opinion. It is cool though. Try the magnet trick. I was told to attach a magnet to a piece of string and dangle it by the "potential meteorite." Holding a magnet to it by hand often isn't enough. The dangling string is much more sensitive. If it is a meteorite, the dangling magnet should be affected by it. Good luck. The "petrified bat poo fortified with iron" theory is also interesting. I understand the best way to test if this is in fact one of those rare poo finds, you will want to make a sandwich. Insert your "treasure" between 2 pieces of toast and then place in a toaster for 20 minutes. If your sandwich catches fire, but the target being tested remains, it probably is in fact petrified bat poo fortified with iron. Now that I have made everyone that read this that much dumber, please let us know what it is if/when you figure it out. HH -Marc

 

[JamesBondaka]

It is magnetic and was found with a metal detector. It is heavy like lead. It has several areas inside the crevices, at the end, that tend to look like fools gold.

heres another pic.

 

[MHirschmann]

Well it sure looks interesting. As I said, I am not a geological/meteorological expert, so don't listen to me. It really might be a meteorite, I just haven't found an image of one that looks like yours. I don't know where you live, but I know my local jeweler (high end jeweler) has a device that can/will tell you exactly what it is that you have. Apparently a lot of good jewelers have these machines, but I can't remember what they are called. The machine uses frequencies to test the exact makeup of the item held to it. Maybe your local jeweler has one of these and will be willing to scan it for you and tell you what it is. Even if they don't have one of those cool scanners, maybe their knowledge alone can tell you what it is. Alternatively, bring it to a local college. I have heard many cases where people got an "unidentified object" identified by bringing it to a college. At this point, I am bursting to find out what you have there, I can't imagine how you feel. Please let us know what it is if you find out. HH -Marc

 

[JamesBondaka]

The meteorites that I have seen doesnt look like this one either. I will try to take it to a college or something and see if I get any answers.

Thanks for your info!

Heres another pic.

 

[MHirschmann]

I just came across fulgurites while searching the internet and I now bet that is what you have found. This occurs when lightning strikes the ground. I have found a few pictures of fulgurites that look exactly what you have. They vary greatly in shape, but i found a few that are identical twins to what you found. My money is on fulgurite....

 

[JamesBondaka]

I looked up fulgurite but could not find any that looked like this one......the ones I saw were more like tubes.....this appears to be solid in form. What do you think?

 

[MHirschmann]

I was basing my fulgurite theory given the pic you posted 3 posts above this one. It appeared to have a "stem" at the right where I figured was the point of impact with the ground and the "firework" looking part would have been the underground portion of the fulgurite according to my theory. I agree, most fulgurites are hollow, long, crusty tubes, but for smaller touchdowns, they appear to leave a small "glob" with a "stem," rather than a large hollow tube which is the result of a bigger hit. I don't know though. I am 25 years old, fresh out of college with a degree in International Business, so what do I know? I just like researching and trying to find out what weird things are. I love finding strange things, they are much more interesting to me than what others consider "good finds." I can't wait to figure out/hear what you have. Its definitely not an "everyday" day item, like a coin or ring, thats for sure. I'll keep trying to find other ideas of what it might be and keep you posted. -Marc

 

[JamesBondaka]

Thanks for your info! I can say this for sure...about this item.....you know more than me.....

Keep up the good work!

 

[MHirschmann]

Hi James, I am going to try something different. Can you please find some "clean" ground, place your item on it, and tell me what the numbers are that your e-trac comes up with? Please also "scan" it from different angles and give me those numbers. Your numbers might help me figure this one out. I will put in some more time today and do some more research, its just hard when I am in Minnesota and the item in question is in Oregon. I'm trying my best though and hope to have a more solid answer for you soon. -Marc

 

[JamesBondaka]

I will do that and post the results.....worse case senario.....I could send it to you if think it has some kind of pronise.

thanks

 

[MHirschmann]

Well, I don't know if it would be worth sending it to me simply for the following reasons:
1) I am not an expert and so I would probably do the same thing with it that you will AKA bring it to local jewelers/colleges and see if someone can tell me what it is
2) I haven't found anything of value that looks like that so I would hate for you to pay to send me something here in MN just to find out its nothing. I hope it is something interesting, but so far I haven't found anything that would be worth something that looks like that.

If you don't have any jewelers/colleges near you, and would like to send it to me to bring to some of my local resources, I would be happy to do that for you, but to be honest, if you have these resources near you it won't make a difference which one of us brings it in. Lets start with seeing what the numbers tell us. -Marc

 

[TURNMASTER]

Could it be Nickel?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel

I Googled magnetic metals and got this list. The link above has a similar looking nodule.
Iron
Nickel
Cobalt
Samarium
Neodymium
Gadolinium
Dysprosium

Does it ID similar to Nickel? Is it fairly heavy?

I think you are on the right track in taking it to the geology professor.

Jeff