No Virginia, these aren't meteorites, Page 4

JOSEPHENITE (below): Josephenite, also known as awaruite (Ni₃Fe), is
a rare naturally-occurring nickel-iron alloy found in Josephine County, Oregon
and in some other localities.  It has some of the properties of an iron meteorite,
being highly magnetic and in containing detectable nickel.  However, the nickel content
is much higher than found in iron meteorites, and these samples lack
the textures found in iron meteorites. The picture on the left shows an unusally
large sample of Josephenite, and the strongly magnetic character of the samples.
 The picture on the right shows the shiny interior of a sample of this material.
(Samples courtesy of Steven Rohrbach).

TEKTITES (below):  Tektites are an unusual type of natural glass, produced by
the impact of a large meteoroid on the Earth's surface.  Earth rock is melted
during the impact, and is ejected violently away from the impact site, producing a
strewn field.  The molten rock acquires an aerodynamic shape as it travels through
the atmosphere. Tektites come in a variety of colors and shapes, and can contain
vesicles or not.  The sample on the right shows flow lines (left-right striations),
and a common teardrop shape.

Page last modified December 2, 2010