GREENSBURG, Kan. - A rare 1,400-pound meteorite was discovered seven feet underground by a collector in an area long known for producing prized space rocks.
Using a metal detector mounted on a three-wheel vehicle, Steve Arnold of Kingston, Ark., found the huge meteorite two weeks ago in Kiowa County's Brenham Township in southern Kansas.
The meteorite is classified as an oriented pallasite, a type noted for a conical shape with crystals embedded in iron-nickel alloy. Only two larger ones of that type are known to have been found: a 3,100-pounder in Australia and a 1,500-pounder in Argentina.
The Kansas rock was found in the same area that in 1949 produced a 1,000-pound meteorite now on display at the Celestial Museum in Greensburg.
