McCartney Taylor

Meteorite Field Researcher, Hunter, and Adventurer

The Beginning

I discovered meteorites in 2001. It was not a whirlwind romance; rather, it was mellow and serene, like realizing that life is good and you''re doing just fine. I bought a few meteorites on eBay to get samples of what they looked like, and I picked up a copy of Norton''s Rocks from Space book. As I read the "Meteorite Hunters" chapter, it dawned on me, "Hey, I could do this!"  And I began to believe that I could probably do it much better than the competition.  I thought that my experience as an entrepreneur, world traveler, and petroleum engineer should give me a giant edge over other meteorite seekers. So in April 2002, after much research, I departed for Allende, Mexico, the site of the 1969 carbonaceous CV3 meteorite fall. The result of that trip was the recovery of 4 kg of material. So, clearly, whatever mojo I had was working.

Texas Exploits

From there I decided to follow in the footsteps of Nininger, a famous meteorite researcher of the 1930s. I talked to farmers and ranchers all over Texas and New Mexico. Over a two-year period, I recovered five new meteorites ranging in size from 100 grams to 27 kilograms. I clearly was doing something right.

After that came expeditions to Costa Rica, East Africa, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Sweden, and other countries. Those expeditions that failed to produce meteorite finds often laid the groundwork for material to be found later as I informed the locals about the history of a nearby fall and about the rewards for recovery.

Mission

My main goal is to enjoy meteorite recovery as a hobby.  This is truly my hobby, after all.  For me, part of the enjoyment is in the historical research to find good leads, part is in the interviews with the people on the ground, part is in the chance to wander through fields under a blue sky—but mostly, my enjoyment lies in the adventure of the quest.

"Why risk my neck for this hobby? To recover pieces of fallen asteroids for science and to improve our knowledge of space. Is that not a worthy cause?" —McCartney Taylor