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Geoscience

Meteors and meteorites

False meteorites

Other objects can often be mistaken for meteorites - ironstones and other heavy rocks and minerals; melted materials (slag, coke) from metal smelting and manufacture of glass, bricks and coke; ball bearings and manufactured metal alloys. Always take any suspected meteorite to your nearest museum for identification and comparison with known meteorites. New meteorites, previously unknown to science have been discovered in this way.