The exact property where the pieces settled is confidential.
The enormous ball of fire that crossed the Valley of Texas causing seismic movements that terrified the residents, could be going down in history, but not in the mind, since the fear persists that something similar could happen again at the least expected moment. .
The meteor, confirmed by NASA, disintegrated, several of its parts fell in Starr County and could be used to be analyzed by scientists.
Los meteorites of fireball landed on February 13 in France, on the 14th in Italy and on the 15th here in Texas. That suggests it’s part of a larger pattern.
“We’ve often thought that there’s a good chance that certain events are what we call ‘ejection pairing’. So there’s a big enough asteroid belt, either several million years ago or several billion years ago. , which is more likely,” said Robert Ward.
“There was some kind of catastrophic event between some very large asteroids, and huge amounts of material were ejected. And some of that debris is in Earth orbit.”
five fragments of meteorites Suspects recovered in Starr County are part of an unusual global pattern, according to the man who found them.
He believes that the information gathered from them can potentially save the earth from a bigger and scarier meteor.
“Let’s cross our fingers that we end up making some history,” said Robert Ward, a hunter for meteorites.
Anyone could guess where exactly, if anything, the meteor landed after it roared through the Valley. But in recent days, suspicious fragments have been found about 50 miles to the east in the El Sauz area of Starr County, according to Ward, who claimed to have found the pieces.
“I get there as fast as I can and get a piece back as fast as possible before it gets disturbed by rain, humidity, ground contamination of any kind.”
He said the exact property where the pieces landed is confidential.
The El Sauz area is a large part of Starr County, easily tens of thousands of acres.
Ward searched El Sauz with NASA planetary scientist Marc Fries. Fries said that he is now in possession of a fragment of approximately 20 grams. He said he is not the owner, but he will deliver the sample to Rice University, where his wife, Linda Welzenbach-Fries, will do a preliminary analysis.
“All the meteorites that we find are turned over to the land owner to avoid any conflict of interest with my federal job as NASA collections manager,” he said.
Ward works differently. He has a vast personal collection of hundreds of meteorites on his website, robertwardmeteorites.com. Ward said that he will soon begin sorting through the fragments.
The characteristics of the fragments found at El Sauz can be further confirmed with laboratory analysis.
A properly equipped laboratory can review a slide of the rock under a microscope.
Chemical analysis is also a possibility.
When asked if the fragments should be considered “meteorites suspicious,” Dr. Fries explained the degree of certainty that he and his wife share.
“We are both 100% sure that it is about meteorites. Still, it’s entirely reasonable to call them ‘suspect’ until the tests come in,” she said.
UNUSUAL EVENT
Officially titled “Planetary Science Field Investigator,” with the American Meteor Society, Ward said he has recovered 650 meteorites on six continents for 34 years.
However, this particular event in South Texas was unusual.
“We have three events in three days. And they appear to be a very similar type of meteorite.”
He says further analysis of the fragments found from this event will determine if more are headed our way.
“Ultimately, this could lead to some very interesting revelations for planetary defense,” Ward said. (With information from 5NEWS)
The information gathered from them can potentially save the earth from a bigger and scarier meteorite, fingers crossed we just made some history.” Robert Ward, Meteorite Hunter.
