How to Find Meteorites in Utah

Search deserts or sand dunes in Utah. Duchesne County and Millard County are the sites of the most meteorites found in Utah, but other locations are Summit, Beaver and Grand counties. Deserts in Utah include Sevier Desert, Great Salt Lake Desert, and the Escalante Desert. These deserts are the best places to locate meteorites because there is little plant growth and rain to obscure or erode the meteorites.

Look for "strewn fields." A strewn field is one of the best places to locate meteorites. These fields are the sites where meteors impacted the Earth. The fields look like craters. Because one-third of the land in Utah is desert, there are plenty of opportunities to find strewn fields.

Look on the ground for a "fusion crust," suggests the Nova Spaces website. A meteor loses much of its mass from melting as it descends to Earth at high speeds. According to Washington University at St. Louis, "When it slows down to the point where no melting occurs, the last melt to form cools to make a thin, glassy coating called a fusion crust." This is the easiest way to find meteorites.

Hold a strong metal detector or strong magnet attached to a string over the fusion crust area. Walk slowly, sweeping the metal detector over the area to find meteorites. Meteorites contain metal, in many cases, iron, reports the Utah Geological survey. Walk slowly, sweeping the metal detector over the area to find meteorites. With the magnet, hold the string in your hand and swing the magnet back and forth over the fusion crust like a pendulum to find meteorites.

Look carefully at the rock or stone the magnet or metal detector discovers. Meteorites have a variety of looks, so it may be difficult to identify them. Look for smooth, shiny, and black or dark layers on the surface of the rock or stone. Meteorites are smooth and shiny because meteors melt due to the friction against the earth's atmosphere, and then they cool. Some meteorites have a reddish-brown color because the metal in the meteorites has rusted. Many of the meteorites found in Utah are rusty due to the iron in the stones. Still other meteorites have on their surfaces ridges, scoops or concentric lines resembling thumbprints. Another way to identify meteorites is by weight. Hold the stone in your hand. Many meteorites are heavier than rocks found on Earth.

Take the meteorite to a lab specializing in identifying meteorites. A lab must authenticate that the rock you have is a meteorite if you want to sell it.