(meteorobs) NJ Meteorwrong

[meteors at eclipse.net]

Well it turns out the meteorite that hit a house in NJ in January was a
meteorwrong....in fact, space junk.

Space.com article here:

http://www.space.com/news/ap_070511_freehold_spacejunk.html

"
NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) - The mysterious metallic object that crashed
through the roof of a central New Jersey family's home earlier this year
was not a meteorite after all, geologists said Friday.

While the rocklike object looks like a meteorite, scientists say it is a
stainless steel alloy that does not occur in nature and is most likely
"orbital debris'' - or plain terms, scrap iron.
...
Scientists had initially determined it was a meteorite. In late April, it
was brought to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City so
its composition could be examined by its new variable-pressure scanning
electron microscope.

The testing took a few hours. The microscope shoots electrons at the
surface of the sample, which causes X-rays to be generated, Delaney said.

"From those X-rays, you can tell the composition and what elements are
present in the sample,'' he said.

This was the first diagnostic testing of the object, which previously been
available only for visual examination."

Wayne in NJ