Beware the fakes, even when they come from the outer space!

Pseudometeorite “Shirokovsky” Synthetic product resembling a pallasite (=stony-iron meteorite) Slide, 5 x 5 cm Museum of Mineralogy, Babeş-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, Romania http://bioge.ubbcluj.ro/MuzeuMin/

On February 1, 1956, a spectacular fireball was observed crossing the skies in the Ural region, Russia. Shortly after, a meteorite fall was reported located in the frozen Shirokovsky water reservoir, as outlined by a hole of 42 cm diameter in the 80 cm-tick ice. Numerous attempts by divers to recover the valuable submersed material were unsuccessful. Apparently until early 2002, when about 150 kg of iron-rich material was released on the exclusive meteorites collectors market, labeled as “the Shirokovsky meteorite”. The material consisted of an opaque metallic matrix with fragments of transparent greenish silicate (olivine). Subsequent scientific investigations have evidenced several features that did not match those of the genuine stony-iron meteorites. Thus, the experts’ verdict was: False! The “meteorite” is man-made, by using terrestrial minerals corresponding to the composition to the extraterrestrial counterpart. The museum got this specimen as donation from a private collector, already acknowledged as “the Shirokovsky pseudometeorite”. As an academic collection focused on education, we displayed the fake in our meteorite collection as a reminder that things are not always what they seem!