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Suburb scoured for meteorite

Jun 13, 2004 6:00 PM

The Auckland suburb of Ellerslie was scoured for objects from outerspace on Sunday after a meteorite plunged through a family's living room.

The black rock is only the ninth ever meteorite to be found in New Zealand and astromoners say there could be more valuble pieces of it waiting to be discovered.

Astronomer Dr Joel Schiff is certain the meteorite that rocketed its way to earth on Saturday morning and broke up in its descent.

"I think there's at least on other piece and possibly many more," he says.

The hunt started in roads, back yards and even the Ellerslie Raceway.

The grapefruit sized rock plunged into the Archer family's living room at speeds thought to be close to one hundred metres per second.

The last authenticated find was in 1976 on the West Coast of the south island.

It is likely the meteorite is a chondrite type, meaning it chipped off an asteriod, but more will be revealed when the four and a half billion year-old relic undergoes a biopsy on Monday.

Schiff has fielded calls from as far away as France from interested buyers.

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