Real “guests” from the Solar System or just earth rocks, slag or scrap

Abstract

The Mössbauer spectroscopy investigation of mineralogical objects is used in combination with other analytical methods for identification of meteorites as well as for their further classification into groups of iron, stone, and stony-iron meteorites. Only one object found in а small private mineralogical collection was identified as a meteorite most probably a polished section from the Pavel meteorite. A dozen other findings were unambiguously rejected as meteorwrongs. They are no more than earth rocks, steel fragments or man-made cast iron, wrought iron containing slag and residual products from modern or ancient metallurgical processes. According to our estimates, perhaps only one of 100–150 findings can be proved to be an interesting object of extraterrestrial origin. The same set of experimental analytical methods can be used successfully for identification of air- or spacecraft fragments.