App State scientists want to look at rock samples
Mariel Williams
editor@mitchellnews.com
Scientists are asking Spruce Pine citizens to keep an eye out for meteorites from a possible strike around 1 a.m. Friday morning.
Residents of Mitchell and Yancey counties heard a strange booming noise between 1 and 1:15 a.m. Friday. Anthony Love of the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences at Appalachian State University said that the Johnson Space Center in Houston was tracking a meteor through Earth’s atmosphere at that time.
“There was a large meteor; it fell over Watauga County last night,” Love said Friday. “The trajectory has been calculated that it may have fallen near Spruce Pine.
Judging by its trajectory at the time when Doppler radar lost track of it, the meteor may have either broken up or actually struck the earth near Ingles on Greenwood Road.
Appalachian State works on analyzing and categorizing meteorites, and Love said the university would like to help rockhounds identify any potential pieces of the meteorite found in this area. Anyone who finds anything can contact the university at (828) 262-3049 or loveab@appstate.edu.
Love said that at this point it’s hard to say whether or not a strike would have left a visible crater. A meteorite that is mostly stone might not have hit hard enough to leave a crater.
“There’s not really a way to know until pieces are found,” Love said. “If it’s a stone type of meteorite it will have slowed down significantly before it hit the ground. … If it’s something larger — maybe something made out of metal — it’s possible it might create some pits or craters in the surface.”
Love said that the Johnson Space Center is analyzing its radar to produce a more accurate map of the meteor’s trajectory.
“It’s possible that it fell near Ingles,” he said. “If that’s the case, there will be professional meteorite hunters that come from all over the United States and possibly the world.”