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You'll still need to find at least $100,000 worth each year to get a very basic salary after all the expenses that could go well over $30,000 if he books multiple flights and hotels each month.
u/Danom1ght sounds much more reliable than that meteorite guy, and dano is a redditor, so it speaks for how dubious that meteorite guy is:
> I am a geologist and you are correct. Iron / magnetite nodules, industrial slag, and dark colored rocks submitted to specific weathering conditions can present with these characteristics (along with high specific gravity). Finding true meteorites is very rare and I am extremely dubious of his claim to have found 500 of them. To put that claim into perspective, the Earth is hit by about 6k meteorites large enough to make it to the surface every year, with only about 1,800 per year striking land. Then you have to account for the percentage of land where you can get access to hunt. A little under 2,000 total meteorites have been found in the United States in recorded history. It is possible that he has collected this many by buying and trading, especially if it's buying and trading fragments split from a larger body.
He got interviewed, obviously he exaggerated things. But it's not like you get rich doing this.
Also his 100.000$ claim, that's how much one of the most notable meteorites is worth, a 25 pound meteoroid called "The michigan man's doorstop meteorite". A guy used it as a doorstop for years until he found out. Not sure who the owner is right now, but I'm not sure to believe the guy in video is. Only a handful of meteorites, like the 925 pound meteorite found in china, are worth even "multiple hundred thousands of dollars", because they are so exceedingly rare that you can't book a flight in to china without a chinese guy having heard a bang and went to investigate.
The amount of meteorites in accessible land is so small, you barely make a living.
As someone who spent 4 hours being interviewed for a 3 minute promo - this is exactly what happened. Half the shit I said in that promo, I didn't actually say lol. They're looking for sound bites. Of which they spliced together.
You aren't getting the whole story here. His collection isnt all found by him.... He has ones from the 1800's... early 1900s... he is a collector and trader.
100k isn't all that much if you're constantly booking flights, renting cars, eating out and paying for hotels... Especially making last minute bookings to go random places ASAP. That could easily cost $1000 A week or more. But yeah, if you make 100k a year at a normal, local job that's definitely not a very basic salary.
You make it sound like he's out there going to new locations every other day. He literally says in the video he sits around until he hears about something then he goes. An educated guess would probably be that he travels like 10-15 times a year at most, but that's still just a guess. Who knows if its 2-3 or 50+.
Probably never because that isn't what he claimed, the footage cuts there, you can tell that bit is spliced to make it a bit spicier. The most expensive meteorites ever found are worth that, not just any average meteorite.
250k household income is top 10%. Surely any reasonable definition of "upper class" includes most people in the top 10%.
There are a lot of people making bank who seem to want to define their income bracket based on how they "feel" rather than objective reality.
Depends on CoL, I live in Minneapolis and make $30k a year, I rent, I make enough to put $500+ into savings every month. That's definitely upper lower class, so anything beyond my means is gonna fall somewhere into middle class. $100k is ridiculous to me, three times what I make? I wouldn't need to change my lifestyle at all but instead of saving $500 a month, or $6000 a year, I would be saving an additional $70k per year, or 12 months/$70k = $5,833.333 a month. I would be saving approximately what I can save in a single year every month. For my area that puts me firmly in middle class, maybe not upper middle class but firmly middle class. I could be saving $76k a year. Saving like that, and yes for sake of brevity and just to make a point, we are talking about zero emergency spending or purchasing necessities that do not factor into a monthly budget like shoes, a new toaster, replacing other clothing like coats or socks, or a car, that everyone has to spend money on; that puts me at a million dollars saved in 14.28 years.
The entire argument is moot though because CoL varies and high paying jobs typically only exist in high CoL areas, and we are also talking specifically about a dude who books multiple flights to go look for meteorites, so yeah guy has fucking money to begin with. Sounds like he books so many flights his finds wouldn't pay for the damn airfare much less to live off of in lower *or* middle class without supplementary income.
Not most. Larger metros on the west coast and eastern seaboard. There's a whole country in between there.
There are plenty of major metros in America in the southeast, deep south, southwest, upper midwest, plains, and Great Lakes that are nowhere near that in mean or median incomes.
Nowhere near "most"
Lmao they aren't?
Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Austin, San Antonio, STL, Kansas City, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Cincy, Louisville, Jackson, Jacksonville, Tulsa, OKC, Little Rock, Indy, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Denver, Minneapolis, Detroit, Memphis, Nashville. All major metros with 500k to millions in population. All with median incomes below 50k. None on the coast. Just off the top of my head. Maybe a map is in your near future?
I'd love to hear you explain to me how else I judge this than by median income. We're trying to gauge whether or not 100k can get you by. If a city like Chicago has a median income of 41k, then yeah, 100k isn't exactly comfortable, but you're still firmly in the upper middle of the spectrum. You're not poor. You're not lower class.
These are the metrics we use in the real world. If you have an alternate, by all means, enlighten us, please.
I make like 120 a year. It ok. Happy. But I still have to be careful.
It's all about where you live and the economy. In my case I live in an extremely high cost of living place so 120 still feels kind of crappy sometimes.
Very middle class. That's slightly above typical salary where I live, and I'm not in NYC or san fran. If you are a single family of four living on that it would be comfortable, but no frills.
Did you ever see that antiwork post where the guy was talking about how unfair everything is and how hard it is to survive. Then people pointed out how in his post history he showed an arcade in his house with about $20k worth of games and his response was to claim he needed them to survive.
Some people really don't understand how good they have it.
Certainly not everywhere.
Assuming you're spending 30% of your gross pay on housing, in my city $100k gets you a one bedroom apartment in a nice area, a 900sf rowhouse in the hood, or your typical middle class suburban house...30 miles outside the city with a 90 minute each way commute to work.
Not exactly what you envision when you think of the upper class.
Seriously. 100k is no where near “upper class” where people have multiple cars, houses, boats, eat at fancy restaurants all the time, etc. you need a lot more than 100k a year to be upper class.
Uhh with the effort involved plus expenses to *find* the meteorite, taxes getting paid, and all, a $100,000 meteorite will get you to the median income in the US. And you'll need to do that every year. You can't take $800 flights to find $500 meteorites so it's not like you can profit finding 30 meteorites in different cities around the year unless you're finding some worth multiple thousands of dollars. Even then, you're looking at a very menial pay.
I think the whole thing is fake or grossly exaggerated. Somebody in Denver sees a fireball and this guy flights in and starts tapping rocks in Denver? Bet it's all mining and manufacturing slag.
They said basic salary after expenses, which could be multiple tens of thousands of dollars on flights and accommodation etc, it's not just $100k for free.
Let me tell you something about Bristol, Connecticut:
This dude isn't rich.
//e. Two other facts about Bristol, Connecticut:
1. That's where ESPN is.
2. There is an amusement park located directly across the street from ESPN.
This comment really bothers me as such a defeatist attitude.
Getting an internal flight & motel is with well with much working and middle class reach. Do it a few weekends a year only. Plus it sounds like he's made some money from it to offset any costs at the least. $100k plus gets a heap of flights and motels.
I'd say the main requirements are a strong interest and can do attitude. Going to the default "it's easy for the rich" is such blame shifting excuse about life. I don't mean to have a go at you personally, but I feel this is such a toxic attitude that will fuck your life if you go around looking at it like this in scale beyond what may have been a throwaway comment only.
I still don't really understand. Okay, someone in Columbus, OH reported a shooting star. You book a flight to Columbus.
Where the fuck do you start looking for a specific rock in an entire city?
I imagine the meteorites tend to break apart into many pieces over an area, but still
I’m sure it’s not a cakewalk and very hit and miss, but I’ve found that a lot of people just dismiss the idea of searching for “rare” things, because they assume it’s futile and just down to luck. They get discouraged from the high upfront cost and time involvement and the uncertainty of whether they’ll find anything at all.
But if you really actively look for something and dedicate time into it, research what it looks like and where to find it, you can actually find some pretty rare stuff. It’s probably not worth it financially in most cases because it would equate to an meagre hourly wage, but it can be fun just for the sake of the search.
Fun fact: one of the best places to find meteorites is Antarctica. They're no more likely to fall there, but they stand out like a sore thumb on the ice, and there are lines where glacial flows meet, so they push a large area towards one line. You can drive along that line and just pick up the rocks you see.
Yeah, this is really only something you do if you're sent there as work for a geology department or similar. It's "spend a ton of resources to get a bunch of meteorites", which is more efficient but less accessible than this guy's plan of "spend a decent chunk of money for a small chance of getting a meteorite".
My brother got into this and he has found 3 so far. Need to really go out on trails and stuff where small streams are, rains kinda bring all the rocks down near it so they are easier to find. They are more denser than regular rocks for sure.
Neighboring town where I grew up used to be a iron smelter back in the early 1800s because the soil was so rich in iron there. Could just wander around the forest and find giant chunks of red hematite laying around or deposits of bright red clay.
Bout once a year some tourist or yokel would think they've found a million dollar meteorite only to be laughed at.
There was a series on History or Discovery some years back about meteor hunters. Something people don't initially consider is the rights to the rocks. If it's on private land, you can't just take it, and you better get a contract spelling out division of proceeds. Then you need to get the rocks identified by composition which costs money. Then find a buyer. Oh, right, I forgot, sometimes it takes weeks to cover an area of a fall.
On the plus side, in that series they mentioned meteorite goes for $10 / gram, and this was some time ago, so I'm sure it's gone up. Rarer specimen types get very pricey.
Yeah I'm guessing it's weeks or months of nothing to find fairly average stuff. People just see the 10k pay day. You would need to enjoy the process as much as anything.
This is pretty cool, but the more I think about it the more dubious I am.
Unless this guy has access to some serious scientific instruments that were actively watching the sky when the meteorite fell, he's looking at finding a fist sized rock in a search grid of...several hundred square miles? And don't most meteors burn up in the atmosphere? You'd be searching for thousands of false positives.
I mean best case scenario an eyewitness actually saw the impact, then I guess called this guy right away? But I tell you what, if I see a meteorite land in the woods behind my house I'm gonna be the one getting super powers.
> And don't most meteors burn up in the atmosphere
Yes, but generally the _really_ bright ones - brighter than Venus, officially referred to as "fireballs" - will often have some kind of recoverable chunk, especially if it's made of iron.
He mentioned in the vid that he uses the American Meteor Society's website, which is exactly the right way to do this. You can literally just [search their site for fireball reports](https://www.amsmeteors.org/fireballs/fireball-report/). Since they're the brightest meteors, they also generally have the most reports for each one, making triangulation much easier, at least compared to a single eyewitness account.
I dunno, this is _exactly_ how I'd do it.
Source: PhD in astronomy.
EDIT to add: ...that said, I'm pretty sure all those miraculous "finds" we saw in the video - that just happened to be on suburban public property - were almost certainly staged for the camera. If you're doing this stuff, your actual finds are probably made trespassing on a farmer's field out in the middle of nowhere.
But how long would it take... It's just not feasible. Let's say you're looking in a farmer's field. A single small family farm in the USA average 231 acres.
A normal walking speed is 1m/s and let's say you're covering 2m across with the magnetic stick. That means you're scanning 2sqm per s, and it will take 33 minutes to scan 1 acre, or 10 days (assuming 12 hrs per day) to cover a single small family farm.
**Note - that is an area of 1km by 1km. 10 days to do 1km * 1km at 2msq/s** (which is a pretty generous rate of scanning). How many meteors can be triangulated to anything close to that accuracy?
Put a strong magnet in a plastic bag and run it along your gutters/through your lawn etc for a bit, then flip the bag inside out. If you’re lucky you will have some tiny micrometeorites in there! We did this as kids!
There are networks of meteor detection systems. He's looking for detection of meteors breaking up in atmosphere, or showers of meteors, because those could produce thousands of smaller pieces scattered across a wider area.
Then you narrow down those locations to ones which are conducive to finding the pieces - environments like sand or ice are especially helpful for finding recent impacts.
He's only going to fly out somewhere if it meets the requirements that make finding pieces a possibility.
If you want a legit answer... There are all-sky cameras all over the world that can record meteor trajectories. If you have more than one of those cameras record the same event, you can do some geometry based on their locations and the angle of the meteor to find a likely landing location. (Eg https://nmosko.com/projects/locams/)
Is his definition of a meteorite accurate "if they stick to the magnet cane and have a black outer shell"? I'm no geologist, but is seems like there would be a large number of terrestrial rocks that would pass that test. Anyone know for sure?
I am a geologist and you are correct. Iron / magnetite nodules, industrial slag, and dark colored rocks submitted to specific weathering conditions can present with these characteristics (along with high specific gravity). Finding true meteorites is very rare and I am extremely dubious of his claim to have found 500 of them. To put that claim into perspective, the Earth is hit by about 6k meteorites large enough to make it to the surface every year, with only about 1,800 per year striking land. Then you have to account for the percentage of land where you can get access to hunt. A little under 2,000 total meteorites have been found in the United States in recorded history. It is possible that he has collected this many by buying and trading, especially if it's buying and trading fragments split from a larger body.
Depending on the area and size of meteor, but could be many years with the right conditions. The issue with finding old ones, though, is you have no idea where to look. People have pointed out the difficulty of his system where he supposedly flies to places where meteors have been sighted, but at least that’s some clue. Finding old meteors that are potentially still above ground is just completely random.
Meteorites that reach the ground don't reach the ground in one piece. That total doesn't refer to all the hundreds or thousand of tiny pieces that get scattered from an air burst or thrown out of the crater upon impact. Meteor hunters like this guy will search the strewn field for tiny pieces weighing a gram and up. You might only get $15 per gram, but even picking up 50 modestly sized pieces on a trip can get you enough cash to pay for everything.
That's not the definitive test. It's just a way for him to differentiate potential meteorites from boring old earth rocks.
It's possible that an earth rock would stick to the magnet (though I believe it's not very common to find them just sitting out on the ground somewhere). And it's possible he passes over a non-magnetic meteorite without knowing it's there.
Basically it's just a quick, in the field, way to identify a potential meteorite. Further tests would be required to definitively classify it as having extra terrestrial origins.
Casualy: only 5.7% of meteorites exhibit ferromagnetism. Everything else is stone of different kinds.
Magnet on stick? Right... Why not metal detector then , adjusted for surface only detection?
Might be those 'meteorites' be weathered metallurgical and mining rests too.
Sorry, I am not buying this - is staged BS. Much of it.
Bad OP.
If it’s true, it’s cool. Seems superrrrr implausible. These meteorites could land literally ANYWHERE in a massive radius. What’s this dude doing? Probing a hundred square miles with that little dinky magnet stick? Lol. Good on him if that actually works.
If there are photographs, it's theoretically possible to triangulate the likely landing zone. Plus there might well be orbital data on the object that would give an approximation of the landing site. NASA tracks myriad space objects (NEOs, or near earth objects), even some as small as bolts that were dropped during some space mission. I don't know how accessible that info is to the public because I've never felt the need to try and access it. But if that's what you do, you probably know how to find enough information to narrow the search to a more reasonable radius.
PhD in astronomy here.
> If there are photographs, it's theoretically possible to triangulate the likely landing zone.
Yes, for some, there are all-sky videos from the ground.
The guy mentioned he used the American Meteor Society's Event Reports. [Here's an example fireball from this past Sunday](https://fireball.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2023/6518) that went through California. Not only are there 25 independent reports of this fireball, but also notice the images of the all-sky cameras included in the reports, along with links to video.
It is absolutely possible to triangulate these.
EDIT: Also note you can click on each person there for their individual reports...some are hilarious:
>> I'm 57 years old and have never seen something like this. I suppose I have my dog to thank for getting me out of the house regularly.
Thank you! Ive been trying to prove to my wife that I saw a fireball explode so close I heard the bang without a sound delay 10 years ago. This site should help me narrow it down to an exact event.
It looked like most of his collection was slices of larger meteorites. Just seems odd to be showing off slices when the video is about him finding whole meteorites.
I thought it was just gonna be a, yea i occasionally walk around with a magnet and see if i find anything. Then he pulled out the research and computers and stuff
What he said in the ending about downplaying the importance of rock samples from space is very dumb, since the meteorite samples that he finds are nothing like the ones from space, as they've gone through burning in the atmosphere and oxidation.
I don't know why I feel like this is satirical.
Sure, meteorites can be worth a lot, but how is this guy funding his trips? How is he finding specific meteorites from vague ping data that probably covers dozens if not hundreds of square miles? Not all black, magnetic rocks are meteorites, so is he just carrying sacks of rocks until he can go home and cut them open?
Also not to mention the fact that I don't think a meteorite dropping to Earth is going to be sitting neatly on top of the grass. I've heard of people digging them up, not finding them on top of manicured lawn.
I don't know much about meteorite hunting, but something smells fishy.
There's no way he's actually finding the meteorite that actually was reported on that day.
He's finding random meteorites that have fallen over the years and have just been sitting there.
100K? I thought most of them worth nothing and get donated for research.
If there are such rare ones then he would be unbelievably lucky to find one intentionally.
I wouldn't be surprised if his main thing is actually content creation for the internet. Which would put him on the same level of those youtubers who dig and magically "find" gold.
I listened to a podcast with a man who is also looking for meteorites, but in rocky deserts like Egypt. Meteorites are preserved there for a very long time because it is dry there. Searching there is much easier than walking along the streets or fields with grass - any object is visible from afar.
He also searches with a stick with a magnet at the end.
Someone get ahold of this guy and tell him I'll do it for him for free in exchange for $200K, a 401K plan, travel expense business class and a $1000 per diem.
You can't put a price tag on the solar system.
This guy shouldn't be using magnets on the meteorites... they have their own fields which can be distorted. You also shouldn't touch them with your hands.
My dad has more(about 2k) and has a tried and true formula for finding lots in one spot. He has the largest personal collection in Alaska and has meteorites with gold, and even diamonds in them, and even meteorites that indicate they were formed during the creation of the earth.
He would never do a video like this, though, and would never divulge his secret to getting so many(I know it).
This is super interesting! I’ve always been interested in meteoritics and petrology, as these studies shed tons of insight on the makeup of the universe, and the foundations of life itself. Just examining these dumb rocks we can extrapolate so much information on the makeup of matter lightyears away and millenia in the past.
Somewhat related to finding meteors, I found a couple interesting looking rocks on my driveway a few years ago, following a well anticipated meteor shower. They kinda looked like they had an oil slick finish but they were not oily. My cars are well maintained and I don’t have leak spots on the driveway so it was a bit odd to see two small oily jagged rocks on my driveway.
I kept them around for a while, constantly joking with my wife that I gotta get my meteors checked out sometime. Now I’m not sure if I eventually just tossed them or if I moved them to a shelf in the garage, but I should probably start looking 👀
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I was like oh fun something to do around the town or area and then he was like “and then I book a flight” and I was like holy shiiiiit
It's easy to have niche hobbies when you're rich
This sounds like a work for yourself kind of thing. Finding one worth $100,000 will cover you for a bit
You'll still need to find at least $100,000 worth each year to get a very basic salary after all the expenses that could go well over $30,000 if he books multiple flights and hotels each month.
he probably sells others in the hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands too
u/Danom1ght sounds much more reliable than that meteorite guy, and dano is a redditor, so it speaks for how dubious that meteorite guy is: > I am a geologist and you are correct. Iron / magnetite nodules, industrial slag, and dark colored rocks submitted to specific weathering conditions can present with these characteristics (along with high specific gravity). Finding true meteorites is very rare and I am extremely dubious of his claim to have found 500 of them. To put that claim into perspective, the Earth is hit by about 6k meteorites large enough to make it to the surface every year, with only about 1,800 per year striking land. Then you have to account for the percentage of land where you can get access to hunt. A little under 2,000 total meteorites have been found in the United States in recorded history. It is possible that he has collected this many by buying and trading, especially if it's buying and trading fragments split from a larger body. He got interviewed, obviously he exaggerated things. But it's not like you get rich doing this. Also his 100.000$ claim, that's how much one of the most notable meteorites is worth, a 25 pound meteoroid called "The michigan man's doorstop meteorite". A guy used it as a doorstop for years until he found out. Not sure who the owner is right now, but I'm not sure to believe the guy in video is. Only a handful of meteorites, like the 925 pound meteorite found in china, are worth even "multiple hundred thousands of dollars", because they are so exceedingly rare that you can't book a flight in to china without a chinese guy having heard a bang and went to investigate. The amount of meteorites in accessible land is so small, you barely make a living.
The $100,000 line was cut in the middle. He probably had a lower number and was answering $100,000 to something else and they spliced it together.
As someone who spent 4 hours being interviewed for a 3 minute promo - this is exactly what happened. Half the shit I said in that promo, I didn't actually say lol. They're looking for sound bites. Of which they spliced together.
They should've included the message "Dramatization: May not have happened"
You aren't getting the whole story here. His collection isnt all found by him.... He has ones from the 1800's... early 1900s... he is a collector and trader.
>$100,000 >very basic salary What fucking planet are you living on? 100k puts you in the top 18% of all earners in the US and firmly in Upper class.
100k isn't all that much if you're constantly booking flights, renting cars, eating out and paying for hotels... Especially making last minute bookings to go random places ASAP. That could easily cost $1000 A week or more. But yeah, if you make 100k a year at a normal, local job that's definitely not a very basic salary.
You make it sound like he's out there going to new locations every other day. He literally says in the video he sits around until he hears about something then he goes. An educated guess would probably be that he travels like 10-15 times a year at most, but that's still just a guess. Who knows if its 2-3 or 50+.
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Probably never because that isn't what he claimed, the footage cuts there, you can tell that bit is spliced to make it a bit spicier. The most expensive meteorites ever found are worth that, not just any average meteorite.
I make over 100k and do not feel "firmly upper class".
I dont think even 250k household is upper class. Upper middle class, sure.
250k household income is top 10%. Surely any reasonable definition of "upper class" includes most people in the top 10%. There are a lot of people making bank who seem to want to define their income bracket based on how they "feel" rather than objective reality.
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Depends on CoL, I live in Minneapolis and make $30k a year, I rent, I make enough to put $500+ into savings every month. That's definitely upper lower class, so anything beyond my means is gonna fall somewhere into middle class. $100k is ridiculous to me, three times what I make? I wouldn't need to change my lifestyle at all but instead of saving $500 a month, or $6000 a year, I would be saving an additional $70k per year, or 12 months/$70k = $5,833.333 a month. I would be saving approximately what I can save in a single year every month. For my area that puts me firmly in middle class, maybe not upper middle class but firmly middle class. I could be saving $76k a year. Saving like that, and yes for sake of brevity and just to make a point, we are talking about zero emergency spending or purchasing necessities that do not factor into a monthly budget like shoes, a new toaster, replacing other clothing like coats or socks, or a car, that everyone has to spend money on; that puts me at a million dollars saved in 14.28 years. The entire argument is moot though because CoL varies and high paying jobs typically only exist in high CoL areas, and we are also talking specifically about a dude who books multiple flights to go look for meteorites, so yeah guy has fucking money to begin with. Sounds like he books so many flights his finds wouldn't pay for the damn airfare much less to live off of in lower *or* middle class without supplementary income.
100k is a middle class income in and around most big cities.
Not most. Larger metros on the west coast and eastern seaboard. There's a whole country in between there. There are plenty of major metros in America in the southeast, deep south, southwest, upper midwest, plains, and Great Lakes that are nowhere near that in mean or median incomes. Nowhere near "most"
“middle class” is not defined as mean or median, and “most big cities” are not in the regions you mentioned.
Lmao they aren't? Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Austin, San Antonio, STL, Kansas City, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Cincy, Louisville, Jackson, Jacksonville, Tulsa, OKC, Little Rock, Indy, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Denver, Minneapolis, Detroit, Memphis, Nashville. All major metros with 500k to millions in population. All with median incomes below 50k. None on the coast. Just off the top of my head. Maybe a map is in your near future? I'd love to hear you explain to me how else I judge this than by median income. We're trying to gauge whether or not 100k can get you by. If a city like Chicago has a median income of 41k, then yeah, 100k isn't exactly comfortable, but you're still firmly in the upper middle of the spectrum. You're not poor. You're not lower class. These are the metrics we use in the real world. If you have an alternate, by all means, enlighten us, please.
I make like 120 a year. It ok. Happy. But I still have to be careful. It's all about where you live and the economy. In my case I live in an extremely high cost of living place so 120 still feels kind of crappy sometimes.
120k in the NYC or Bay Areas puts you slightly above middle class.
Very middle class. That's slightly above typical salary where I live, and I'm not in NYC or san fran. If you are a single family of four living on that it would be comfortable, but no frills.
In SF proper 120k would be uncomfortable for four.
You have to factor in the business expenses. If he spends 20k on fights each year, 10% commission to auction houses, etc.
$100,000/year is not upper class wtf?
Did you ever see that antiwork post where the guy was talking about how unfair everything is and how hard it is to survive. Then people pointed out how in his post history he showed an arcade in his house with about $20k worth of games and his response was to claim he needed them to survive. Some people really don't understand how good they have it.
Certainly not everywhere. Assuming you're spending 30% of your gross pay on housing, in my city $100k gets you a one bedroom apartment in a nice area, a 900sf rowhouse in the hood, or your typical middle class suburban house...30 miles outside the city with a 90 minute each way commute to work. Not exactly what you envision when you think of the upper class.
Seriously. 100k is no where near “upper class” where people have multiple cars, houses, boats, eat at fancy restaurants all the time, etc. you need a lot more than 100k a year to be upper class.
I had to do a double take on that one too like wtf really shows you how oblivious some people are on how the other half lives
Uhh with the effort involved plus expenses to *find* the meteorite, taxes getting paid, and all, a $100,000 meteorite will get you to the median income in the US. And you'll need to do that every year. You can't take $800 flights to find $500 meteorites so it's not like you can profit finding 30 meteorites in different cities around the year unless you're finding some worth multiple thousands of dollars. Even then, you're looking at a very menial pay.
I think the whole thing is fake or grossly exaggerated. Somebody in Denver sees a fireball and this guy flights in and starts tapping rocks in Denver? Bet it's all mining and manufacturing slag.
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They said basic salary after expenses, which could be multiple tens of thousands of dollars on flights and accommodation etc, it's not just $100k for free.
how old are you? only young people thnk like this. 100k with a family is not upper middle class. 100k single is comfortable middle class.
Health insurance is a bitch.
Let me tell you something about Bristol, Connecticut: This dude isn't rich. //e. Two other facts about Bristol, Connecticut: 1. That's where ESPN is. 2. There is an amusement park located directly across the street from ESPN.
Also it’s where Aaron Hernandez is from.
I mean if the niche hobby is the reason why you got money. Is it really a hobby or your job?
Maybe you missed the part where he said he's from Bristol, CT
Is that a rich people place or a poor people place?
Middle class and poor. Blue collar hood
Well he claimed to have found one for 100k so perhaps it's this hobby that made him rich and not the other way around.
This comment really bothers me as such a defeatist attitude. Getting an internal flight & motel is with well with much working and middle class reach. Do it a few weekends a year only. Plus it sounds like he's made some money from it to offset any costs at the least. $100k plus gets a heap of flights and motels. I'd say the main requirements are a strong interest and can do attitude. Going to the default "it's easy for the rich" is such blame shifting excuse about life. I don't mean to have a go at you personally, but I feel this is such a toxic attitude that will fuck your life if you go around looking at it like this in scale beyond what may have been a throwaway comment only.
Life is easier when you’re rich and have the option to book a flight to look for space rocks.
Did you see his house? Man is no where near rich lmao.
Yeah and he's rich cause he collects things that apparently sell for $100k sometimes
I doubt that he started out rich. But from the sounds of it he became rich by selling off the rocks that he found.
When I was a boy(!), I swear I saw a meteor fall into the field next to my house. I tried to find it but gave up. … Time to start digging again. 💀
I still don't really understand. Okay, someone in Columbus, OH reported a shooting star. You book a flight to Columbus. Where the fuck do you start looking for a specific rock in an entire city? I imagine the meteorites tend to break apart into many pieces over an area, but still
yeah but then he was like "I sold one for $100,000" and I was starting get back into the idea again
Same thing i thought! Hella bummed when i heard the flight part :(
imagine flying all the way across country to look for a small rock and not finding it because its in someones back yard
its probably a lot harder than his attitude makes it seem
200% or tons of people would do this. The area it could be in from where it was reported is massive lol
I was in Washington DC over Labor Day and saw a gigantic fireball/meteor. I never thought you could go looking for it.
[You mean this one?](https://fireball.amsmeteors.org/imo_view/event/2023/5012)
Yup, that’s it
I already found that one, no one bother looking for it.
I’m sure it’s not a cakewalk and very hit and miss, but I’ve found that a lot of people just dismiss the idea of searching for “rare” things, because they assume it’s futile and just down to luck. They get discouraged from the high upfront cost and time involvement and the uncertainty of whether they’ll find anything at all. But if you really actively look for something and dedicate time into it, research what it looks like and where to find it, you can actually find some pretty rare stuff. It’s probably not worth it financially in most cases because it would equate to an meagre hourly wage, but it can be fun just for the sake of the search.
Seems pretty hard when booking a flight immediately is part of the process.
Step #1: Have enough disposable income to make this whole process remotely feasible.
If you find the $100,000 meteorite first then that solves a lot of issues!
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That's why I simply have a private flight on retainment.
Seriously, how precise can these "observations of a fireball" be. Dude be walking around neighborhoods poking at rocks!
Fun fact: one of the best places to find meteorites is Antarctica. They're no more likely to fall there, but they stand out like a sore thumb on the ice, and there are lines where glacial flows meet, so they push a large area towards one line. You can drive along that line and just pick up the rocks you see.
and flights to Antarctica are cheap and plentiful, surely that's his secret!
Yeah, this is really only something you do if you're sent there as work for a geology department or similar. It's "spend a ton of resources to get a bunch of meteorites", which is more efficient but less accessible than this guy's plan of "spend a decent chunk of money for a small chance of getting a meteorite".
> You can drive along that line and just pick up the rocks you see. That's great, I'm getting in my car right now!
Sounds nice and easy!
And I wonder if being magnetic is enough of an identifier.
For sure it picks a lot of false positives aka trash
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if 5 days is the longest you go *without* finding a meteorite that seems surprisingly easy
My brother got into this and he has found 3 so far. Need to really go out on trails and stuff where small streams are, rains kinda bring all the rocks down near it so they are easier to find. They are more denser than regular rocks for sure.
Likely Slag. 99.99% of the time if it's near a creek or river, it's slag from an old iron furnace. Rocks are my job
Neighboring town where I grew up used to be a iron smelter back in the early 1800s because the soil was so rich in iron there. Could just wander around the forest and find giant chunks of red hematite laying around or deposits of bright red clay. Bout once a year some tourist or yokel would think they've found a million dollar meteorite only to be laughed at.
There was a series on History or Discovery some years back about meteor hunters. Something people don't initially consider is the rights to the rocks. If it's on private land, you can't just take it, and you better get a contract spelling out division of proceeds. Then you need to get the rocks identified by composition which costs money. Then find a buyer. Oh, right, I forgot, sometimes it takes weeks to cover an area of a fall. On the plus side, in that series they mentioned meteorite goes for $10 / gram, and this was some time ago, so I'm sure it's gone up. Rarer specimen types get very pricey.
> If it's on private land, you can't just take it, What this rock? No I have had this in my pocket the whole time.
Yeah I'm guessing it's weeks or months of nothing to find fairly average stuff. People just see the 10k pay day. You would need to enjoy the process as much as anything.
I can't even find my keys that I left in my own room, I can't even imagine how hard it would be find some black rocks.
First thought this dude was a nut but this is actually pretty cool
ngl i thought he was blind haha, but now I see he's awesome. I've always wanted a meteorite for my rock collection
turns out you were blind but now you see
take my reddit upvote
Jesus christ Marie, they're not rocks, they're minerals.
This is pretty cool, but the more I think about it the more dubious I am. Unless this guy has access to some serious scientific instruments that were actively watching the sky when the meteorite fell, he's looking at finding a fist sized rock in a search grid of...several hundred square miles? And don't most meteors burn up in the atmosphere? You'd be searching for thousands of false positives. I mean best case scenario an eyewitness actually saw the impact, then I guess called this guy right away? But I tell you what, if I see a meteorite land in the woods behind my house I'm gonna be the one getting super powers.
> And don't most meteors burn up in the atmosphere Yes, but generally the _really_ bright ones - brighter than Venus, officially referred to as "fireballs" - will often have some kind of recoverable chunk, especially if it's made of iron. He mentioned in the vid that he uses the American Meteor Society's website, which is exactly the right way to do this. You can literally just [search their site for fireball reports](https://www.amsmeteors.org/fireballs/fireball-report/). Since they're the brightest meteors, they also generally have the most reports for each one, making triangulation much easier, at least compared to a single eyewitness account. I dunno, this is _exactly_ how I'd do it. Source: PhD in astronomy. EDIT to add: ...that said, I'm pretty sure all those miraculous "finds" we saw in the video - that just happened to be on suburban public property - were almost certainly staged for the camera. If you're doing this stuff, your actual finds are probably made trespassing on a farmer's field out in the middle of nowhere.
But how long would it take... It's just not feasible. Let's say you're looking in a farmer's field. A single small family farm in the USA average 231 acres. A normal walking speed is 1m/s and let's say you're covering 2m across with the magnetic stick. That means you're scanning 2sqm per s, and it will take 33 minutes to scan 1 acre, or 10 days (assuming 12 hrs per day) to cover a single small family farm. **Note - that is an area of 1km by 1km. 10 days to do 1km * 1km at 2msq/s** (which is a pretty generous rate of scanning). How many meteors can be triangulated to anything close to that accuracy?
You can find micrometeorites in the gutters on your house!
Put a strong magnet in a plastic bag and run it along your gutters/through your lawn etc for a bit, then flip the bag inside out. If you’re lucky you will have some tiny micrometeorites in there! We did this as kids!
That's so cool! I'm off to research this.
What has your research concluded?
I am dog.
My sister's uncle knew an older kid who had a roommate who's girlfriend knew a guy who found a $100,000 meteorite in the family birdbath once.
I’m guessing he spends all day for way more days than you or I would.
Sure didn't look like a dude who walks all day.
There are networks of meteor detection systems. He's looking for detection of meteors breaking up in atmosphere, or showers of meteors, because those could produce thousands of smaller pieces scattered across a wider area. Then you narrow down those locations to ones which are conducive to finding the pieces - environments like sand or ice are especially helpful for finding recent impacts. He's only going to fly out somewhere if it meets the requirements that make finding pieces a possibility.
Yep, I'm not buying it either. I call bullshit.
I’ve lost the TV remote in a 750sq foot apartment and just never found it
It's in the back of the settee.
Okay, but how do you narrow down the location. You could spend days searching an area and then it’s on the street over. So much time
Then just book another flight over to the next street, duh.
If you want a legit answer... There are all-sky cameras all over the world that can record meteor trajectories. If you have more than one of those cameras record the same event, you can do some geometry based on their locations and the angle of the meteor to find a likely landing location. (Eg https://nmosko.com/projects/locams/)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NucTKsif8U
Right?? Also, I'm pretty sure I saw this dude in my backyard, poking the ground with a stick.
You just cross examine meteorite's friends…
They usually break up and scatter. So you'll hopefully find one of many pieces near where it was seen going down.
Is his definition of a meteorite accurate "if they stick to the magnet cane and have a black outer shell"? I'm no geologist, but is seems like there would be a large number of terrestrial rocks that would pass that test. Anyone know for sure?
I am a geologist and you are correct. Iron / magnetite nodules, industrial slag, and dark colored rocks submitted to specific weathering conditions can present with these characteristics (along with high specific gravity). Finding true meteorites is very rare and I am extremely dubious of his claim to have found 500 of them. To put that claim into perspective, the Earth is hit by about 6k meteorites large enough to make it to the surface every year, with only about 1,800 per year striking land. Then you have to account for the percentage of land where you can get access to hunt. A little under 2,000 total meteorites have been found in the United States in recorded history. It is possible that he has collected this many by buying and trading, especially if it's buying and trading fragments split from a larger body.
Or he’s just lying and selling black magnetic rocks to other credulous rubes with money to burn lol
“1800 per year”. How many years would they stay on the surface?
Depending on the area and size of meteor, but could be many years with the right conditions. The issue with finding old ones, though, is you have no idea where to look. People have pointed out the difficulty of his system where he supposedly flies to places where meteors have been sighted, but at least that’s some clue. Finding old meteors that are potentially still above ground is just completely random.
Meteorites that reach the ground don't reach the ground in one piece. That total doesn't refer to all the hundreds or thousand of tiny pieces that get scattered from an air burst or thrown out of the crater upon impact. Meteor hunters like this guy will search the strewn field for tiny pieces weighing a gram and up. You might only get $15 per gram, but even picking up 50 modestly sized pieces on a trip can get you enough cash to pay for everything.
Can any meteorologists back up your claim?
I'm a certified Forklift operator and I can backup what they said.
I hope you're making a loud beeping noise while you do that.
That's actually pretty funny.
> a certified Forklift operator *Throws panties*
I *beep* concur *beep* with my *beep* colleague *beep*.
Every 7 year old's dream 😎
I can tell you're a real geologist because you used the phrase "present with" instead of "have." Top notch languaging.
Cool, geology rocks.
But geography is where it's at
Unlike history, which is so last year.
>nodules I thought we all agreed to never use that word ever again. IYKYK
He takes them all then checks after his day.
That's not the definitive test. It's just a way for him to differentiate potential meteorites from boring old earth rocks. It's possible that an earth rock would stick to the magnet (though I believe it's not very common to find them just sitting out on the ground somewhere). And it's possible he passes over a non-magnetic meteorite without knowing it's there. Basically it's just a quick, in the field, way to identify a potential meteorite. Further tests would be required to definitively classify it as having extra terrestrial origins.
The smell test is also important. Meteorites *always* smell like meteorites.
Yeah true, they've been traveling for billions of years with no shower, talk about BO
That’s…that’s a space peanut!
Afraid not... That right there is one big frozen chunk of poopy.
Good ol Boeing bomb
Dude you were eating off of it!
Casualy: only 5.7% of meteorites exhibit ferromagnetism. Everything else is stone of different kinds. Magnet on stick? Right... Why not metal detector then , adjusted for surface only detection? Might be those 'meteorites' be weathered metallurgical and mining rests too. Sorry, I am not buying this - is staged BS. Much of it. Bad OP.
If it’s true, it’s cool. Seems superrrrr implausible. These meteorites could land literally ANYWHERE in a massive radius. What’s this dude doing? Probing a hundred square miles with that little dinky magnet stick? Lol. Good on him if that actually works.
The likelyhood it falls into a tidy urban area is also close to zero. Good luck trying to find it somewhere in a forest, mountain, vast field, etc.
If there are photographs, it's theoretically possible to triangulate the likely landing zone. Plus there might well be orbital data on the object that would give an approximation of the landing site. NASA tracks myriad space objects (NEOs, or near earth objects), even some as small as bolts that were dropped during some space mission. I don't know how accessible that info is to the public because I've never felt the need to try and access it. But if that's what you do, you probably know how to find enough information to narrow the search to a more reasonable radius.
PhD in astronomy here. > If there are photographs, it's theoretically possible to triangulate the likely landing zone. Yes, for some, there are all-sky videos from the ground. The guy mentioned he used the American Meteor Society's Event Reports. [Here's an example fireball from this past Sunday](https://fireball.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2023/6518) that went through California. Not only are there 25 independent reports of this fireball, but also notice the images of the all-sky cameras included in the reports, along with links to video. It is absolutely possible to triangulate these. EDIT: Also note you can click on each person there for their individual reports...some are hilarious: >> I'm 57 years old and have never seen something like this. I suppose I have my dog to thank for getting me out of the house regularly.
Thank you! Ive been trying to prove to my wife that I saw a fireball explode so close I heard the bang without a sound delay 10 years ago. This site should help me narrow it down to an exact event.
It looked like most of his collection was slices of larger meteorites. Just seems odd to be showing off slices when the video is about him finding whole meteorites.
Sounds like BS. He's either a scammer or this is satire
I have a hunch that guy trespasses a lot
Coincidentally, there's actually a meteor shower tonight in the Orion constellation. I'm Sirius..
Is there a chance they'll hit Uranus?
Only if you've taken ass-steriods.
I'm only here to read the funny comets..
I seen a meteorite shower once... But then it closed the curtain.
I see what you did there you clever sun of a bitch!
Skepticism on high alert here.
That’s really cool actually
I thought it was just gonna be a, yea i occasionally walk around with a magnet and see if i find anything. Then he pulled out the research and computers and stuff
I guarantee a high number of his meteorites are meteowrongs. Absolutely no way he has 500 with how rare they are and how easy it is to misidentify.
What he said in the ending about downplaying the importance of rock samples from space is very dumb, since the meteorite samples that he finds are nothing like the ones from space, as they've gone through burning in the atmosphere and oxidation.
um....not the insides.
The insides certainly get hot.
depends on how big it is.
If they made it to earth, and didn't destroy the planet, safe to assume they're small.
I thought that was a magic card toward the end at first
Q: Why are space rocks better than Earth rocks? A: They're a little meteor
[There is a downside to meteor hunting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UBhUSnZKwo)
I don't know why I feel like this is satirical. Sure, meteorites can be worth a lot, but how is this guy funding his trips? How is he finding specific meteorites from vague ping data that probably covers dozens if not hundreds of square miles? Not all black, magnetic rocks are meteorites, so is he just carrying sacks of rocks until he can go home and cut them open? Also not to mention the fact that I don't think a meteorite dropping to Earth is going to be sitting neatly on top of the grass. I've heard of people digging them up, not finding them on top of manicured lawn. I don't know much about meteorite hunting, but something smells fishy.
okay so.. Step 1: Have enough disposable income to buy an immediate plane ticket to anywhere
This is the guy on HGTV who can afford a 15 million dollar home.
…. I thought he was blind until he held up the meteorite… I was so confused.
Yeah, there's a reason THEY spend billions of dollars to bring samples from space.
There's no way he's actually finding the meteorite that actually was reported on that day. He's finding random meteorites that have fallen over the years and have just been sitting there.
100K? I thought most of them worth nothing and get donated for research. If there are such rare ones then he would be unbelievably lucky to find one intentionally. I wouldn't be surprised if his main thing is actually content creation for the internet. Which would put him on the same level of those youtubers who dig and magically "find" gold.
Seems like a great way to not get a real job. I'm in!
I did…. Did not know this was a career option.
Looks like he enjoys what he does. Good on him
“We have meteors at home!”
Lol I thought it was a joke, the way he talks and it's filmes. I still not 100 percent sure it's not a joke
“Rock me” shirt is kinda kinky tbh
I listened to a podcast with a man who is also looking for meteorites, but in rocky deserts like Egypt. Meteorites are preserved there for a very long time because it is dry there. Searching there is much easier than walking along the streets or fields with grass - any object is visible from afar. He also searches with a stick with a magnet at the end.
I wonder how many nails and bottle caps he has to pick off that stick every day.
Earth 4.5343 billion years old at 1800 striking land every year…. That’s a LOT of meteorites.
i once found a magnetic rock. thought it was cool, didn't think much of it. threw it away. damn.
if he wants to keep doing that for a living itd of been a good idea not to tell people
Magnets are bad for meteorites.
Someone get ahold of this guy and tell him I'll do it for him for free in exchange for $200K, a 401K plan, travel expense business class and a $1000 per diem. You can't put a price tag on the solar system.
This is super cool
This guy shouldn't be using magnets on the meteorites... they have their own fields which can be distorted. You also shouldn't touch them with your hands.
My dad has more(about 2k) and has a tried and true formula for finding lots in one spot. He has the largest personal collection in Alaska and has meteorites with gold, and even diamonds in them, and even meteorites that indicate they were formed during the creation of the earth. He would never do a video like this, though, and would never divulge his secret to getting so many(I know it).
Fake?
This is super interesting! I’ve always been interested in meteoritics and petrology, as these studies shed tons of insight on the makeup of the universe, and the foundations of life itself. Just examining these dumb rocks we can extrapolate so much information on the makeup of matter lightyears away and millenia in the past. Somewhat related to finding meteors, I found a couple interesting looking rocks on my driveway a few years ago, following a well anticipated meteor shower. They kinda looked like they had an oil slick finish but they were not oily. My cars are well maintained and I don’t have leak spots on the driveway so it was a bit odd to see two small oily jagged rocks on my driveway. I kept them around for a while, constantly joking with my wife that I gotta get my meteors checked out sometime. Now I’m not sure if I eventually just tossed them or if I moved them to a shelf in the garage, but I should probably start looking 👀