Fire From the Sky, Money in the Bank
Hunting Meteorites for Fun and Profit

Allan Langheinrich with one of his meteorites in his personal collection Courtesy Allan Langheinrich, NY Rockman

July 25, 2001 -- The blazing meteor that streaked across the sunlit sky on Monday, visible from Canada to Virginia, was something of a starting gun in a race among a group of enthusiasts who are scouring fields in Pennsylvania for remnants of the space rock.

Experts say the meteor was one of the small stony space objects that routinely enter Earth's atmosphere. But this particular rock was big enough to be seen in broad daylight by much of the Eastern seaboard.

That means that pieces of Monday's rock most likely made it to Earth intact, instead of burning up completely in the atmosphere.

NPR's Linda Wertheimer spoke Wednesday with Allan Langheinrich, a master tool and die maker and meteorite enthusiast who maintains a rock cutting and preparation facility at his workshop in Ilion, New York.

The famous Peekskill, N.Y. meteorite Courtesy Allan Langheinrich, NY Rockman

Langheinrich deals in meteorites, and says that pieces of space rock can sell anywhere from 50 cents to several hundred dollars a gram, depending on where the rock came from. He told Werthheimer that finding a piece of Monday's fireball could mean big money. This rock could be worth $1,000 a pound or more.

"We hope there's some on the surface so it can be recovered," he said. "There could be a considerable amount of material laying around."

Langheinrich said the rock would most likely have a black surface from the intense friction of falling through the atmosphere.

Langheinrich knows a thing or two about the value of meteorites -- he owns the car that was hit by the famed Peekskill, N.Y. meteorite, and tours it all over the world.

And he gave a caveat: The meteorite belongs to the person whose property it landed on.

Web Resources:

View the gallery of meteorites for sale on Allan Langheinrich's Web site