We May have found an ancient Meteorite at the Jupiter Shipwreck Site!

[Tuberale]

I really thank the experts from giving their opinions.

Being an explorer and not an archeologist I have an open mind
and will weigh in on all the assessments I receive.

I didn't say my friend is a gemologist - I called him a "mechanic".
That is what some of us call practical folks who work with gold and silver
and other semi to precious stones.... O.K.

He is not a scientist but let me pass on a jewel of wisdom he imparted on me:

He said: "Dom - the universe is a pretty big place!" A meteorite from the universe
can be made up of anything - even things scientist's done know about yet!"
"The apparent sedimentation on one side of the specimen makes it look terrestrial."

Anyhow - I haven't decided to pulverize it and smelt it down - and I certainly am not going to let
any other fool damage it either, until I take some closer photos and test some rubbings from different
sides.

The only geologist I know - likes the world to think he is a Spanish colonial coin specialist and he
doesn't particularly like me.

I hope it is a meteorite but am just as happy if it turns out to be related to our shipwreck.

You did call him a gemologist. Here is the original quote:

"As exciting as this specimen being a 14 and a half pound meteorite.... hello2 laughing7 hello2 laughing7
we just got an opinion from a practical and therefore knowledgeable gemologist / gold and silver mechanic. sign13"

The most recent photo showing the stone and your cat appears to show a different stone than the original. Either that, or the stone has been turned over.

I do not see layers of "sedimentation" in any of the photos.

With the exception of the original photos, I also do not see any residual fusion crust, which should be present for several hundred years after a fall. For example, the Willamette Meteorite, found in 1902, fell at least 15,000 years previous. Even though there are large areas of erosion (hollowed areas) from such extensive exposure to Oregon's acidic rainfall and organic debris, the Willamette Meteorite still displays a fusion crust.

 

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[Tuberale]

Thank you for the close-ups photos! I have now looked at all of them. I see no sign of a fusion crust, which would mostly preclude this from being a true meteorite. There does appear to be fire-damage, though. I suspect (but cannot prove) that the stone has been through a fairly hot fire.

I am not a geologist, so I could be wrong.

Your stone does not appear to me to be a meteorite. I see no regmaglympts. There is no noticeable fusion crust. I see evidence of veination, not sedimentation. There may, however, be areas where minerals have been fused together: not really marble, but something similar to marble.

Stone appears to be heavy for its size, but does not appear to reach the weight most meteorites would have. The exception to this would be Howardites, which are unlikely to survive even a year underwater. The evidence of barnicles suggests your stone has been underwater longer than a year.

Sorry.

 

[capt dom]

Don't be sorry....

I'm not....

Its a pretty cool rock specimen.
Its not a different rock....
and yes it is very heavy for its size
and it came out of a very deep hole
and was there a long enough time for
some barnacles to grow on it.

As it is drying out the melted side has lost the
shine it appears to have when wet.
But it is still melted - never-the-less.

The question is was it from a fire on the vessel
or from fire mining if - in point of fact,
it may not have come screaming in from the sky....

I am in communication with a geologist from
New Mexico who has taken an interest
so.... we will see....

Maybe it is a part of the esteemed Reverend
Robert Bouchlace's "Russian Killer Cosmos Satellite"
that he observed entering the atmosphere many decades
before.... that put him on his mission
to return to the "Prince of Peace" the "Golden Madonna"

 

[FISHEYE]

Your rock could be a slightly melted volcanic rock.I found one that washed up at wabasso a few years back.My MD picked it up too.Mine is really light like its pumice,but has rust or iron ore type deposits on it.

And that baby octopus you found.Put it on a cracker with some cocktail sauce and eat it raw.Yum Yum

 

[Plat]

very cool!

 

[itmaiden]

I think you'll eat anything Fisheye ! The Atlantic, not too far from the Florida coast is just full of volcanic pipes, and I read that these can give off a sort of magnetism (was a theory behind the Bermuda Triangle).

itmaiden

Your rock could be a slightly melted volcanic rock.I found one that washed up at wabasso a few years back.My MD picked it up too.Mine is really light like its pumice,but has rust or iron ore type deposits on it.

And that baby octopus you found.Put it on a cracker with some cocktail sauce and eat it raw.Yum Yum

 

[capt dom]

I tried to get her to eat it!
Told her it was a right-of-passage thing on
recovery vessels.....

But, the octopus was listening more than my daughter
and took a bite of her....!

That's what army diver was saying when he commented on her
going from oooh.... to ow!

 

[Lucky Eddie]

We tend not to pick up the little ones.

Those blue rings don't show till they get angry and are about to bite you!

Up to the point where they get antsy they look just like a miniature ordinary octopus.

You'd think they aren't that common, but you'd be wrong (Possibly dead wrong - ha - an intentional pun, I crack me up LOL)
I went out for a day with my lad when he was decking on a commercial Octopus long line vessel, and we pulled about 3 or 4 in one day.

They are out there - dunno if you guys get them - but i wouldn't be taking the risk....it only takes one bite.

Cheers!

 

[capt dom]

Well...

My Daughter is still alive! We didn't see any blue
circles so - all is well. Octo crawled out of an old bear
can we pulled out of the hole we were digging as we leave
no metal underwater!

 

[capt dom]

New Information.

O.K. It is not a meteorite

Here are some new photos:

 

[FISHEYE]

A quick way to kill a octopus if it is big enough is to put your hand inside of one of its gills,grab the brain/internal organs then shake your hand real quick to turn the octopus inside out,killing it instantly.

 

[capt dom]

I will pass that information on how to dispatch an octopus next time to my daughter

The photos show Dr. Ray Mcallister Professor Emeritus of FAU
Besides being an early pioneer (1951 Scripps Dive Instructer #1)
his degree is in marine geology. {The right guy} and a long time friend.

He had me take an archeological tool, {a hammer} to the corner of the rock specimen.
To my surprise, when the piece broke off - inside it turned out to be like a sedimentary layered
sand stone! Like a M & M candy there appears to be a thin coating (see earlier photos)
on the top surface of three sides of the rock specimen that look somewhat like a melted
ballast stone but inside - at least on the edge - its sand stone!

And, Why so heavy And why does it look so gray

Maybe..... Just Maybe, it is melted lead sheathing!

Take a look at this drawing and imagine
the pissed off native Indians - firing the wreck by pouring pitch
upon it and setting it a blaze....
(Indians did this often - so Spaniard's couldn't find wrecked vessels)

If the wrecked ship was sitting upon a rock outcropping caused by a sand bar extending
across the mouth of the natural Jupiter Estuary in the mid- 17th century and burnt?

Maybe, just maybe that is how the sand stone rock got coated!
and the metal detector is going off because it is melted lead!

I think I figured it out!

I have to admit.... reading about the other subcontractor finding
coins and other stuff - while we were burning diesel and
tearing equipment up - was beginning to wear a little thin on team and my own morale

But it is all good! Increased knowledge about the enigma of the Jupiter Shipwreck
provides us with a better understanding of it.

Look at this old photo of the estuary taken from the lighthouse before
Jupiter Beach Park was even there! Note the wave break on the sand bar
extending off the south end of Jupiter Island! Then look at the old chart
with the sand bar clearly drawn across the inlet!

Here is where our ship hung up and then broke apart!

 

[FISHEYE]

Dom,

Have you ever found any burnt wood from the wrecksite?When i found my shipwreck deadeye buried on the beach near the washed out dunes,it was covered with a sedimentary layered type of sand stone that perserved the iron really well.You may want to get that rock of yours xrayed to see if anything is inside it.

 

[capt dom]

Over the years (24) we have found quite a bit
of burnt wood and charcoal like remnants - a few
carbonized (burnt) dead eyes and or chain plate Dead
Eye Fasteners.

There definitely was some sort of fire.

 

[itmaiden]

Don't discount the rock being a meteorite yet. The ship could have burnt by an onboard fire, or the Spanish setting it on fire either way. True the Indians could have done it. I have been wondering how much may have been salvaged off this ship long before you had acquired the lease. As I mentioned before, back in the 1800's if I remember the timeframe correctly a treasure chest of coins was found on the beach there.

As far as the Meteorite/sandstone combination, if a meteorite shattered and a part of it adhered onto the sand while it was still hot, or by natural conglomeration, then you could have something like what you found.

itmaiden

Over the years (24) we have found quite a bit
of burnt wood and charcoal like remnants - a few
carbonized (burnt) dead eyes and or chain plate Dead
Eye Fasteners.

There definitely was some sort of fire.

 

[itmaiden]

Take a look at the meteorite in this first link:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...N&rlz=1T4ADSA_enUS333US344&ndsp=20&tbs=isch:1


Now here is a really different one. This meteorite was seen coming out of the sky like a rocket back in the 1800's by 2 boys sitting on Bettis Bluff overlooking the Black River here. There is an area like a lake where the river backs up during flood times, and the meteorite landed into the bank of the "lake".
It was originally a missile type, which was 9 ft by 3 ft. But when the townspeople went to haul it out of the bank, it was too big for the oxen so they broke it in half. The half they hauled sat on the lawn of the house next door for many years, with passersby taking chunks of it. It was finally moved for safe keeping to the new courthouse where is has a small fence around it. Weathering has dulled it's color and appearance. It was originally very "pink". Yep, that's right a "pink" meteorite. It was a granite/silicon meterorite which isn't considered valuable, and definitely is not magnetic.

http://meteorite-identification.com/pocahontas.html

Many types of meteorites, some more valuable to collectors than others, but many people are not familiar with the silicon ones.

itmaiden

New Information.

O.K. It is not a meteorite

Here are some new photos: