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The “Tree Meteorite” of La Pine, Oregon *
Author(s) -
Pruett J. Hugh
Publication year - 1939
Publication title -
contributions of the society for research on meteorites
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1945-5100
pISSN - 0096-2813
DOI - 10.1111/j.1945-5100.1939.tb00214.x
Subject(s) - meteorite , tree (set theory) , forestry , geology , meteorology , archaeology , geography , astrobiology , physics , mathematics , combinatorics
On August 16, 1938, the Portland Oregonian carried on its front page a story of the finding of a white‐hot meteorite in a hole in a fir tree about 60 feet from the ground. It was said that it had cut through 14 inches of the side of the tree. The story spread all over the country. The writer saw it in Time and in the Christian Science Monitor . Attempts were made by interested persons to obtain samples for inspection, but the holder refused all requests. He would not let even newspaper men see it! Two forestry officials finally got a glimpse of it. They reported that it was light in color and weight and full of holes. It was soon learned through the Forestry Department that “tree meteorites” had several times previously been reported in the Pacific Northwest. Analyses of these objects had revealed a composition about like that of the ashes from sound wood in the same trees. Very little iron (only traces) and no nickel have been found. It is thought that these clinkers are formed when the top of a tree is burned off by forest fires and ashes sink down into the trunk, perhaps into a rotten spot, and there fuse into a solid mass by the intense heat of the surrounding burning wood.