Is this really a meteorite

[Dave scutt]

My mother in law has given me this.

The story behind it is that it was found on a hill side in West Sussex in 1964 .

They visited the area after being told a meteorite had crashed there, lots of people where there collecting these rocks.

I would be interested in anyone's opinion on it , it's just under the size of a golf ball and very heavy at 75g

Dave

[dweller25]

Cannot say what it is but it does look interesting 👍

[laudropb]

It doesn’t look like a meteorite to me, but it is difficult to tell from your photos. If this was a recent fall I would expect to see fusion crust. Also the orangish colour  looks like weathering over a prolonged period. Have you tried to see if it is attracted to a magnet ?

[John]

It looks like an iron pyrite nodule. Someone asked the Natural History Museum a question about a similar specimen a few years back:

NaturePlus: Coprolite? (nhm.ac.uk)

They thought theirs might be fossilised dinosaur poo !

 

 

[Dave scutt]

30 minutes ago, laudropb said:

It doesn’t look like a meteorite to me, but it is difficult to tell from your photos. If this was a recent fall I would expect to see fusion crust. Also the orangish colour  looks like weathering over a prolonged period. Have you tried to see if it is attracted to a magnet ?

No it's not magnetic 

[PeterStudz]

8 minutes ago, John said:

It looks like an iron pyrite nodule. Someone asked the Natural History Museum a question about a similar specimen a few years back:

NaturePlus: Coprolite? (nhm.ac.uk)

They thought theirs might be fossilised dinosaur poo !

 

 

Yes, it’s a pyrite nodule. Relatively common in chalk. I use to go searching for them (when fossil hunting) when I was a kid in some of the chalk pits near/on the Surrey Downs.

[Mr H in Yorkshire]

Pyrite is possible but most likely a marcasite nodule (also FeS2 but different crystal system), the radiating crystal structure is typical. 

[Peter Drew]

Difficult to tell colours from photos but in a good specimen of iron pyrite the internal structure usually looks a lot more golden.  Hence the adage "fool's gold".     🙂

[John]

This website documents all the known UK and Irish meteorite falls. It needs to be updated ton include the WInchcombe Meteorite fall in February 2021:

UK and Ireland Meteorite page (meteoritehistory.info)

I have seen many meteorite specimens over the years (I used to collect them) but yours does not resemble any that I have seen.

Another useful link on meteorite identification:

Meteorite Identification: Have you found a space rock? (geology.com)

[Dave scutt]

Thank you all for breaking my heart💔. i was so happy for a while

[StarDuke82]

I collect rocks and minerals and that is either a Pyrite Nodule or some other form of Iron Concretion easiest way to test it would be to do a streak test on a piece of unglazed porcelain or underside of a toilet tank lid in a pinch and run it across, Pyrite will leave a dark blackish green to black streak, Iron will leave either a reddish brown or rust orange streak behind, based on the corrosion on the outside and the color though I’m going to say it’s a specific type of pyrite called arsenopyrite if it’s golden Or Marcasite if it’s more Silver which is found with quartz and often rusts out of rock beds. However it’s not a meteorite unfortunately those are extremely rare to find a large specimen if you do want to find some tiny particles you might have luck straining your downspout water and running a magnet over the water tiny particles of meteorites rain down on our roofs every day and we’re not even aware of it.

Edited June 12, 2023 by StarDuke82

[wxsatuser]

We used to collect these on the local Downs just after the plowing, they were easy to spot amongst the flints.

All us kids called them meteorites but we knew they were not.

[wxsatuser]

I knew I had one some where.
It's quite big, just about fits in my hand.

This is pyrite found on the local Downs.