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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

I received this email this evening with attached photos. The sender says:

I was wondering if you could tell me if this is a meteor or not. It has been in my friends family for as long as he can remember (50years). His parents came from Mexico. He was told this was a meteor. What do you think? That is a common house brick underneath it. He is on the southside of Chicago. Any help would be appreciated.

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Here is my response:

From what I can discern from the photographs, I would say that it is not a meteorite. Usually meteorites come screaming thru our atmosphere and become charred and glossy. It looks heavy, so I'm wondering about the silver attribute.

Also...I see some blue coloring on it. Although some meteors are of the heavy metal kind, usually iron or nickle, but I see some bluish/greenish coloring. That could be indicative of copper, which is not a common element in these types of rock.

Now, I'm sure this has been handled extensively over the years, so from the image, it's rather hard to make a definite call. But again, from what I see, I would have to say...no.

I will post these images on the Chicago Astronomer forum, and see what our membership thinks about it.

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Well, what do the Chicago Astronomers have to say about it?