First, what’s the difference between a meteor and a meteorite? Meteors or “shooting stars” are anything from dust to larger objects from space that streak through sky without hitting the ground. Meteors heat up as they pass through the atmosphere and create the light that you see as they shoot by. They either burn up or fly by into space again.

Meteorites are large enough and on the right trajectory to make it to the ground. If you think you found a meteorite, it’s possible, but since meteors never reach Earth, you will never find a meteor. Unless you are in space of course.

With that said, How do you know if you have a meteorite? The answer is not simple, but here is a couple of questions to ask yourself:

Is it black or brown and fairly smooth, without holes on the outside?

Is it solid and compact? (not porous)

Is it heavy compared to an average rock of the same size?

Is it attracted by a magnet?

Is it made of metal or does it show metallic iron specks on a broken, cut, or polished surface?

If you answer “yes” to all of the above questions, the object may be a meteorite. If most or all of the answers are “no”, the object is most likely not a meteorite. 

Another test is the Streak Test.

Some rocks can be misleading, like hematite and magnetite. Each mineral leaves a characteristic colored streak when scraped along the unglazed surface of a ceramic tile or coffee mug. Hematite leaves a red-brown streak and magnetite leaves a gray-black streak. Meteorites will not leave a streak unless they are highly weathered. (but weathered ones can leave a brown streak)

Tektites are sometimes mistaken for meteorites. See “What is a Tektite”

One of the hardest types of meteorites to identify are the “Stoney” type. They ironically are the most abundant. They are similar to Earth rock, but are usually heavier. The most outstanding feature is a melted exterior called a “fusion crust”. This is usually a thin black melted coating on the outside. This crust can sometimes be brown from rusted iron content.

Iron type meteorites are more rare to find and are made almost entirely of nickel-iron. These meteorites will be black or brown on the outside. They will be very heavy and a magnet will stick strongly to them. If you file or grind on them they will show metal like any other piece of iron that is rusted. Because of this they can easily be confussed with old junk that has been rusting for a long time.

Iron meteorites come in all shapes and sizes. They commonly have “regmaglyphs” -depressions resembling thumb prints on the outside.

Stoney-Iron Meteorites are a somewhere in the middle between stoney and iron types as the name suggests. They are heavy because of the iron content and usually rusted on the surface. They are often confused with slag from furnaces.

If it still looks like you may have a meteorite, you may want to get a professional to look at it or a piece of it. .

Iron Meteorite

Stoney Meteorite