Anyone know what this is???

I have suspected this could be a meteorite and have done a lot of on line research to help me determine if it is or not. I am still not sure what it is even though it meets most of the criteria for a meteorite. Fernbank Science Center did not offer any help when I sent them pic's a few years ago.

Here is a list of questions and other information for evaluating whether or not a suspect rock is a meteorite and how this one stacks up:
1) Irregular shape? Yes, somewhat round but slightly oval.
2) Solid, not porous? Yes
3) Unusually heavy for size? Yes
4) Smooth black or brown crust? Yes
5) Light colored or concrete like on inside? Not sure, uncut.
6) Shows a metallic iron when surface is ground? Yes
7) Attracts a magnet? Only slightly
8) Different from surrounding rocks? Not sure, origin unknown.

My specimen is very silvery under the crusty surface which is characteristic of solid iron-nickel. It weighs 27.6 ounces and measures 2.5” long X 2.25” wide. It’s long circumference is 7.25” and short circumference is 7.0”.

Almost all meteorites have variable amounts of malleable iron-nickel while only 5% are solid nickel irons. Solid iron-nickel’s have the silvery look under the crust as mine does.
2% have a 50/50 mix of stone and iron-nickel.
If hit with a hammer they will dent or bend but not break.
Malleable iron-nickel is extremely rare on earth but common in most meteorites and is one of the most distinguishing characteristics of a meteorite.


It appears my specimen has a seam (last pic) which gives me cause to think it may be man made but i have never seen anything like it and cannot imagine what it may have been used for. Hopefully, at least one of you can shed some light on this oddity.

Could it be a cannon ball?

Where did you find it? The location may give clues to its origin. It looks a kind of like a cannon ball to me also but it is kind of egg shaped isn't it? It could be a ball out of a larger artillery canister shell that was fired with a timed fuse to explode over a target, raining projectiles down over a large area.

If that is ruled out then it's obviously a dinosaur egg.

Cannon ball

I do not believe it is a canon ball or parts of a projectile because it is extremely heavy for it's size and it is not perfectly round. I cannot determine what kind of metal it is but it is heavy like lead and harder than some steels.

I do not know where it originally came from. I aquired it from a friend's estate here in Georgia. It was in a box full of all kinds of junk and tools.

Al33 said:

I cannot determine what kind of metal it is but it is heavy like lead and harder than some steels.

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There are very few metals as nearly as heavy as lead:
antifriction metal - too modern
mercury - not even close
molybdenum - doesn't rust
silver - doesn't rust

There are several metals heavier than lead, but those are the ones that you don't mess with (except gold).

There are several metals heavier than cast iron, which falls more towards the middle ground of the range of weights.

Lead - 707 pounds per cubic foot
Cast Iron - 490 lbs/cf
Iron - 425 to 487 lbs/cf

Figuring the ball has an average diameter of 2.375 inches, that would put the ball at around 7.0144 cubic inches. That equals 0.004059257779873115 cubic feet so...

Lead - would weigh around - 45.9 ounces
Cast Iron would weigh around - 31.8 ounces
Iron would weigh around - 27 to 31.6 ounces

Please someone let me know if my math is off.

Looks by my calculations to be standard iron.

a paper weight???

Iron ore

It looks excactly like what we called iron ore as a kid growing up in Ohio. It was transported by rail car to foundries were it was melted down.
It made good window breakers also when they transported cars by rail. "Maybe I should have left that part out" .

I'd say Hevi-Shot in 00000000000000000 Buckshot.

DYI,

Thanks!!! Perhaps it is nothing more than iron because it's weight fits right in with your calculations. The silvery spot below the surface looks a lot like nickel and has not rusted over in the three+ years since I filed it down.

I know one thing, it would make a heck of a projectile for a giant flip.

Outdoordon,
Regarding the iron ore you recall looking like this, were they formed this way by melting then pourinig them or did they come from the ground in this shape? I ask because of the appearance of a possible seam and there is a dimple in one end which might lead one to think this was where a pour hole was at in a mold.

Let the Govt Decide

Al
Put it inside a briefcase and take it to Atlanta. Drop it off downtown near the Ga. Dome. I bet the Feds will figure out what it was.

Al, there are alot of old pig iron mines and smelting furnaces that were operated back during the civil war. I know of several just north of Allatoona. Did it come from this area?

Platinum...You just hit the lottery!!

Ta-ton-ka chips said:

Al
Put it inside a briefcase and take it to Atlanta. Drop it off downtown near the Ga. Dome. I bet the Feds will figure out what it was.

Click to expand...

That's great idea!!! Can I borrow your pretty truck?

Hooty, not sure where it came from.

Slingblade, right now I would settle for copper.

Looks like what they call a "Tennessee Egg".

I would say some form of cannon ball...
Sue

Well what ever it is.. it make for good pondering!
not to jump track....
But Platinum...
was a junk metal for the longest time...

a favorite for lighting rods on old barns...

Yall stay safe!

cw

Could be a Native American bola.

Oval cannon ball from oval cannon