Some considerations:   Most (~99%) meteorites found by amateurs are ordinary chondrites, irons, and stony irons because (1) these are the most common kinds of meteorites that fall from the sky and (2) such meteorites are often easy to spot because they look different from “ordinary” rocks, even to an amateur.  For example, most chondrites and all irons and stony irons contain iron metal and are, therefore, magnetic - they will attract a compass needle.  They are also a bit denser (heavier for their size) than most terrestrial (Earth) rocks. 

About 3% of stony meteorites are achondrites such as howardites, eucrites, diogenites, aubrites, ureilites, lunar meteorites, and martian meteorites. Most achondrites contain little or no metal (<1%) and are not magnetic. All strongly resemble Earth rocks.  Put another way, many kinds of earth rocks “look like” the rarest meteorites.  If an achondrite does not have a fusion crust (because it’s worn off or it’s a piece from the interior of a large meteorite), it is impossible to recognize it as a meteorite without doing expensive and time-consuming chemical, isotopic, and mineralogical analyses.  All the martian meteorites, for example, are rock types that are common on earth (basalts, peridotites, pyroxenites, dunites).

Many of the people who have sent us rocks and photos have done so because of our web site on lunar meteorites.  Thus, many of the photos in the collection above really don’t look anything like “normal” meteorites.  A few resemble lunar meteorites.  Again, however, many terrestrial rocks, particularly sedimentary rocks and some volcaniclastic rocks, superficially “look like” the brecciated lunar meteorites.  Your chance of finding a real meteorite is very low. For example, there have been only about 22 found in Missouri and 9 found in Illinois in the past 200 years. Less than 1 in 1000 of all known meteorites are from the Moon (same for Mars).  Thus, your chance of finding a rare type of meteorite is extremely low.

Bottom Line: If you have a rock that has no fusion crust and it looks like a terrestrial rock, it is almost certainly not a meteorite. Meteorite dealers and scientists aren’t going to be interested in examining, studying, or analyzing it.

Other Meteorwrong and Meteorite Identification Sites