> The real jackpot here is how this large chunk happened to impact a home belonging to an astute and prepared individual:

Maybe chunks hit many people, but you only hear about the ones who are prepped and ready.

I think I have a pair of disposable gloves somewhere, and maybe could manage to get several glass jars, but I have no idea what the aluminium foil is for, or how to preserve the samples with it.

If this had happened to me, I would probably use Ziplock bags in the best scenario.

With the covered surface by a prepared observer being so small and the place of impact being independent and identically distributed over all earth, we can declare such an event a one in billion one.

I've seen enough sci-fi to know I shouldn't just grab the dang thing ...

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Oh, I wanted to subscribe to "Alien World Chemistry".

Desert Fireball Network, and less public precursor projects have been doing this for a while now:

* https://dfn.gfo.rocks/

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Fireball_Network

* https://pawsey.org.au/researchers/desert-fireball-network-te...

This is absolutely trivial as long as any fixed ground objects are visible in a camera and does not at all require some sub-pixel precision.

Here's another article that explains the guy called in an expert who told him "at least $100K crashed through your roof."

Doesn't mention if he actually sold it though, unless I missed it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/15/science/meteorite-new-jer...

In the US, if a meteorite lands on your property, it's yours and you can sell or donate it as you please. This homeowner probably made a decent amount on the sale, especially with the emphasis on immediate preservation.

someone recently SOLD a t-rex skeleton for $50 MILLION (61% complete)

so you should be able to sell meteorites that land on your property

only thing you can't own/sell is NASA Moon Rocks

Everybody knows that. You contact NASA. Then a black helicopter will pick you up, bring you to an airbase and fly you straight to the white house, where you will be introduced to the actual truth, while a team of very excited scientists with biohazard suits praise and examine the artefact. If you're still sceptical, they will take you to a large hidden hangar in the middle of the desert and show you around.

The Vogon hyperspace development council.

No, many of the the molecules are too unusual. More details:

The amino acids have a central C (Carbon) that is connected to 4 parts, a COOH (acid), a NH2 (amino) and H (Hydrogen) and a R (rest, that is a polite way to say whatever). [I'm ignoring some less usual cases.]

The 4 parts can be arengad in two ways, "L" and "D" that are mirrors of each other. Living things (and corpses) almost have only the "L" version. But in the meteorite they found a 50% and 50% mix of L and D that is a clear thing that they were made by chemical reactions instead of living thing.

Also, in living things (and corpses) the possible/usual R are like 30. The meteorite has a few of the usual ones, and also a few unusual ones that is another clear thing that they were made by chemical reactions instead of living thing.

Also, the R they found can be explained by the expected chemical reactions on a meteorite. I don't understand the details, but IIUC there is HCN (Cyanide) and in some conditions it likes to react with itself and make the stuff they found.

So unless the guy is a mad scientist making weird experiments in his attic that are not very useful to rule the word, it's probably a mix made in the meteorite by chemical reactions.

https://ohyeahihadntthoughtofthat.com/

It's like doorstep delivery, but faster and better.

Color Out of Space (2019) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5073642/)

Evolution (2001) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251075/)

Both fun movies, in completely different ways!

You'll know it's a Spielberg movie if there was a shot of clouds preceding the meteorite shot first.

If you follow disclosure, scene 1 occured a long, long time ago...

From what I understand about this story, the homeowner had the presence of mind to immediately attempt to preserve the meteorite, which is what made subsequent analysis possible.

Presumably other fragments landing outdoors with no one around taking similar steps to preserve them, even if they were to be recovered, would not be as valuable for study because of their exposure to the natural environment of Earth.

No? It's obvious the meaning is that most meteorites will never be found because they're tiny and no one witnesses where they land. If it hits a house you know where it landed.

Detecting radio signals never made much sense to me.

Even a few light years away, it’s almost infeasible to build a radio transmitter that could be detected above the noise floor. The amount of energy you’d need would be absurdly wasteful.

No, ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE!