What should you do if you find a meteorite? Space rock experts explain

On Sunday, November 2, residents in eastern Victoria witnessed a streak of light in the sky followed by a powerful sonic boom that sounded like an earthquake. The event was filmed by security cameras and cell phones.

Last month in South Australia, the SA Museum investigated whether a meteorite hit a moving car, cracking and burning its windshield.

Two months earlier, in August, another fireball lit up central Victoria, prompting scientists and volunteers to search farmlands near Ballarat and Bendigo for fragments, although none have yet been found.

Meteorites are therefore more common than we think. But what to do if you find one?

How often do meteorites land on Earth?

Every day, the Earth is flooded with more than 100 tons of cosmic dust. Every year, hundreds of meteorites fall somewhere on Earth, but most crash unnoticed into oceans or land in isolated wilderness areas.

Only around ten falls observed each year are currently recovered. Australia, with its vast deserts and sparse vegetation, is one of the best places in the world to spot and preserve these rare visitors from space.

To date, more than 78,000 meteorites have been identified worldwide. Most come from asteroids, with some even attributed to Mars or the Moon.

Collecting meteorites on Earth is often described as the cheapest form of space exploration. Scientists now have more than five times as many moon rocks from meteorites as those returned from the Apollo missions, and a greater diversity of rock types, providing insight into parts of the Moon that astronauts never sampled.

Famous Australian meteorites

Australia has produced some of the world’s most remarkable discoveries. The Cranbourne meteorites (Victoria, scientifically described from 1854) include massive specimens of iron and are among the largest discoveries in the country.

The Murchison meteorite (1969, Victoria) contains the oldest minerals to form in our solar system, amino acids – the building blocks of life – and “stardust” that formed in exploding stars billions of years before our sun existed.

More recently, Bunburra Rockhole (2007, Western Australia) was filmed by the Desert Fireball Network. The unusual basaltic composition of the meteorite offers rare insights into asteroid diversity.

Today, observing programs such as the Desert Fireball Network track meteors across Australian skies. These help researchers locate and recover new falls such as the Murrili (2015, Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, SA), Puli Ilkaringuru (2019, Nullarbor Plain, WA) and Pindarri Punju Puri (2025, Lake Hope, WA) meteorites. The arid regions of Australia, particularly the Nullarbor Plain, preserve meteorites exceptionally well, where more than half of Australia’s known meteorites are found.

What to do if you think you’ve found a meteorite

If you come across an unusually heavy, dark rock with a smooth, sometimes shiny, or dimpled surface (called a fusion crust) and it looks different from the surrounding rocks, it could be a meteorite. Some of the more unusual meteorites, like Murchison, are not particularly heavy, so don’t rule out your possible meteorite based on its weight alone.

If you think you’ve found one, follow these steps to preserve its scientific value.

1. Photograph it before touching it. Include wide and close shots and include something to scale, like a coin.
2. Record GPS coordinates, date and time. Your phone’s location data works fine.
3. Don’t clean it. Avoid washing, scrubbing or polishing to preserve delicate minerals and chemical signatures.
4. Handle with care. Use gloves and wrap them in clean foil, not plastic.
5. Write everything down. Describe the soil type and any features, including nearby rocks.
6. Contact your state or territory museum for advice and identification.

When good intentions go wrong

Unfortunately, not all meteorite finds have been handled carefully. Over the years, many have been damaged by well-meaning collectors who soaked them in acid, accelerating corrosion. Some were rubbed or hit with a sledgehammer, destroying their fusion crust. Still others were removed from dirt-strewn fields without recording their location.

Some have even been sold or exported illegally, putting them beyond scientific reach. These actions resulted in the permanent loss of valuable evidence, sometimes the only clues to a meteorite’s cosmic origin.

Who owns meteorites?

In Australia, ownership of meteorites is governed by state and territory laws rather than a single national rule. It therefore depends on where the meteorite lands.

In WA all meteorites are state property under the Museums Act, while in South Africa they are owned by the Crown and managed by the SA Museum. The Northern Territory also declares meteorites as Crown property under the Meteorites Act 1987. Researchers must report their findings to the relevant museum. Museums may recognize the discoverer, but the specimens remain part of public collections for research and exhibition purposes.

Other states may allow researchers to preserve meteorites, although it is always best to verify and report the find to your state museum. The export of meteorites from Australia is federally regulated and permits are required.

These rules ensure that meteorites remain accessible to scientific study and the public, unlike in some other countries where ownership often passes directly to either the researcher or private landowner, such as the United Kingdom, the United States and some Canadian provinces.

Fireballs continue to light up the Australian sky every year. By carefully documenting discoveries, reporting them, and respecting property laws, anyone can contribute to planetary science. And sometimes the next big discovery might literally fall at your feet.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.