Winnipeg teen finds possible meteorite in school yard
An astronomy expert is set to examine an unusual-looking rock — a possible meteorite — that a Winnipeg teenager found this summer.
Isabella Silva, a 13-year-old collector of fossils and rocks, discovered the heavy, dark rock jutting out of the ground in an East Kildonan school yard last month.
"I just happened to look down and there it was," Silva told CBC News.
"It was kind of sitting in an angular position in the ground, with a ring of dead grass around it and a small indent."
Silva suspected the rock may be a meteorite, so she brought it to the planetarium at the Manitoba Museum.
"We get about one rock a week coming in the door that someone thinks or hopes is a meteorite," said Scott Young, the museum's manager of science communications.
"In the 40-year history of the museum, not a single one has ever turned out to be an actual meteorite."
But Young said he cannot rule out the possibility that Silva's find is different. An expert has been called in to visit her later this week and check out the rock.
"It's heavy, it's dense, it's got metal on the inside," said Silva.
"It's rusty because I guess it oxidized when it hit the Earth — if it did come from space — so I'm hoping for the best to see what it is."
Silva said while she is hopeful the rock is confirmed as a meteorite, she has a plan if it isn't.
"Just keep looking!" she said.
