Can you identify?

[chrick53]

I know it is hard to tell by pictures but a friend found this near Scranton, Pa. with a metal detector. A magnet does stick to it. I believe it could be a meteorite. What do you think?

 

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[RW]

Don't think so. Lots of iron ore up there right? Maybe anthracite? I don't know but looks too layered. Could be....

 

[frank]

Judging by LOOKS alone .........NO METEORITE.......Mother Earth Rock.

 

[Tuberale]

Hope your friend still has it. I can't say with certainty, but it does have elements that suggest a meteorite. Has a streak test been done? Magnetic is a good test, but still just a test. Iron, iron slag, magnetite, lodestone, Josephenite and other high-iron content rocks are magnetic. Sometimes even basalt!

It looks to me like it has regmaglymphs and droplets on the surface. Only by having the rock tested will it be confirmed or proven. Your friend needs to contact someone like the Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory for confirmation. The scientific equipment which is used to prove or disprove meteorites. A low-tech devise might also help prove or disprove whether it is a meteorite: a steel file. Place the stone in a vise, and use a file to create a small exposed surface. Iron slag will have a uniform interior. Meteorites are known for Widmanstatten diagrams, caused by melted iron during passage through the Earth's atmosphere. Only meteorites are known to have Widmanstatten diagrams, and they are distinctive enough to reference multiple pieces of meteorites which break up while far above the earth.

The testing process may take several months, but no longer destroys much of the stone in the process. Cascadia would do the tests for free, I believe.