I hope not. Seriously. Would you really buy a piece? It's a rock. Those things are laying all around you in the form of limestone, sandstone, igneous rock and granite. And I'll bet that you won't have to shell out a bit of cash in a strapped economy like the world is currently facing. Chunks of meteorites should be studied and not sold as merchandise.
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Reply to Eric:
Actually, there is a pretty good business for some people in selling meteorites. People have gotten wealthy doing it. Their are a number of people who go out and dig up meteorites (especially near the Arizona desert) to sell and who make a decent living at it. And their would be far fewer meteorites in museums if they didn't also go out and buy meteorites from people who find them. I would also point out that most gemstones (diamonds, emeralds, topaz, etc.) are nothing more than rocks and even the rocks you mentioned above (limestone, granite – which is an igneous rock, BTW) are sold for a fair amount of money.

Additionally their are a number of individuals, commonly referred to as rockhounds, who seriously go out and collect rocks – my grandmother did when she was alive. Personally, I was more into the ones with fossils in them, but her enjoyment of it and interest in all types of rocks is part of what got me interested in science when I was young. To a number of rockhounds, the finding of a meteorite would make a valuable addition to their collections.

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Liede-Marie Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 4:21 pm

Will there be consideration in selling pieces of the meteorite?!
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Reply to Liede-Marie:
You can search google for meteorites for sale and some of them are quite beautiful. Its always possible that someone may find a piece of that meteorite and sell it.

Great for scale, I'd not have thought of a cap !

Liede-Marie Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Will there be consideration in selling pieces of the meteorite?!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I hope not. Seriously. Would you really buy a piece? It's a rock. Those things are laying all around you in the form of limestone, sandstone, igneous rock and granite. And I'll bet that you won't have to shell out a bit of cash in a strapped economy like the world is currently facing. Chunks of meteorites should be studied and not sold as merchandise.

Now if you could buy dinosaur fossils en masse – then you've got my attention.

"Ann Elizabeth Hodges (1923 – 1972) of Sylacauga, Alabama is the only person of record to have been hit by a meteorite. On November 30, 1954, she was napping on her living room couch when a grapefruit-sized meteoroid crashed through the roof of her house. It bounced off her large wooden console radio, destroying it, and struck her on the arm and hip. She was badly bruised but able to walk. …" more details at http://www.dailycognition.com/index.php/2008/03/05/7-unluckiest-people-in-the-world.html

There are also numerous cases of very near misses, and of dammaged or destroyed houses. I remember even a story of a man in Croatia (or perhaps Serbia or Slovenia) who's house was hit in several independent accidents – I cannot find the source now, but I believe it was three independent hits (in different years). Not sure whether it is really true (does not sound possible), but I remember the local academy of science was involved in the investigation.

And I have also the feeling I read stories about people in India or China being killed or hit by a meteorite, but I have no idea how much creditibility the reports had.

Yet more evidence that if you want a meteorite to land nearby, you should give your city (or valley) a romantic, evocative or just plain bizarre name.

Also, i'm pretty surprised by the impact crater… there is none!
I'd have expected something that big to have done a bit more damage.
Guess it lost some speed on explosion.

>> No reports of people killed by Tunguska, but for all we know, a whole tribe of crazy snow loving people could have been wiped out.

Some old traper reported that he was the only person that he knew that was in the area and he got blow of his feet by the blast.

Nope Procyan, there has been no recorded human fatality from a meteorite. Although a dog was reported killed in the 19th century in Egypt if memory serves me correct, probably the most interesting meteorite impact in human terms was back in the early 1990's when someones car in the USA was impacted by a meteorite. It was parked.

Hm… somehow I expected a bigger hole than that.

BTW/ Has anyone ever been hit/killed by a meteor impact? Wouldn't that be the ultimate way to go? A zillion years before the humans evolved, your name was on this rock in space. And they wonder why you and I imbibe!

Somewhat more seriously though, if you find a meteorite, especially if you think it is new, try to protect it from further contamination. Keep it dry and dessicated until you figure out what you want and are allowed to do with it. Expert help is advised. They will prevent sunburn by placing a well worn sweat-soaked cap snuggly onto the beast.

Imagine that landing on your house or car (or head!).

I prefer not to, if you don't mind. It hurts just to think of it…

I wonder, though… shouldn't a chunk this size dig a sizeable hole on the ground? Why aren't there pictures of such holes?