Only eight meteorites
have been found in Pennsylvania–five iron meteorites and three
stony meteorites. Most of these are named for the location where they
were found.
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Iron Meteorites
(clockwise
from top):
The New Baltimore, The Shrewsbury, and The
Pittsburgh
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1. The Pittsburgh
While plowing his fields in 1850, a farmer picked up this meteorite
to kill a snake. Realizing it was remarkably heavy but not knowing
its origins, he took the "iron stone" to Pittsburgh to be
wrought into an iron bar. Fortunately, Professor B. Silliman,
Jr., of Yale College, acquired a portion of it before it was destroyed.
Little did Snyder know that he had discovered Pennsylvania's first
meteorite!
2. The Mount
Joy
In 1887 Jacob Snyder discovered the largest meteorite found east of
the Mississippi River while planting an apple tree near his home.
Assuming it indicated the presence of an iron mine nearby, Snyder
searched diligently for one–to no avail. The meteorite's
origin remained a mystery until it was analyzed four years later at
the Smithsonian Institution.
3. The Bald Eagle
Railroad workers unearthed this fungus-covered meteorite while collecting
stones for a roadbed in 1891. Buried under several feet of stones,
it had obviously fallen many years earlier. It was eventually
presented to Bucknell University, where it was analyzed and its unusual
snakelike patterns studied.
4. The Shrewsbury
In 1907 a farmer plowed up this 24 pound (10.9 kg) meteorite
while working in his fields. It resembled a rusty brown, smooth-angled
rhombohedron (a six-sided prism with parallelogram faces).
5. The New Baltimore
This meteorite was discovered in 1923 by Jefferson Long, also a farmer.
It was described by Dr. G.P. Merrill, of the Smithsonian Institution,
as "wholly unlike anything I have before met with."
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Stony Meteorites
(left to
right):
The Black Moshannon Park, The Bradford Woods, and The
Chicora
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6. The Bradford Woods
While husking corn in 1886, farmer George Hillman heard "a loud
explosion, a hissing sound, and a thud nearby as if something hit
the ground." Upon exploring a roadside ditch, he found
the still-warm specimen, which he described as being shaped like an
"old-fashioned biscuit."
7. The Chicora
In 1938 scores of eyewitnesses observed a huge fireball streaking
over western Pennsylvania and making an explosive roar. This
meteorite may have struck a cow as it fell into a field. The
original meteor, before partially disintegrating, may have weighed
510 tons!
8. The Black Moshannon
Park
In 1941 Robert H. Reed reported, "I heard a strange whirring
noise as if a million bumble bees had been disturbed."
What he heard was a meteor landing just four feet from his son, who
was sleeping in a tent.
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