Photos: In search of meteorites

Steve Arnold scours the wheatfields of Kansas with a homemade contraption that just might find a big rock from outer space.

By Bill Detwiler, Contributor July 20, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. PT

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Meteorite finder

Consider it a variation on the theme of looking for a needle in a haystack: Somewhere under this Kansas wheatfield, there could be a meteorite. If there is, Steve Arnold plans to find it. It wouldn't be the first time.

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ATV pulling meteorite finder

The going is faster with an ATV doing the pulling of the homemade meteorite finder. This search, near Haviland, Kansas, took place Dec. 1.

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Meteorite found!

Arnold (right) with a 1,430-pound meteorite, classified as "oriented pallasite," that he found in the area in early November. He told the Wichita Eagle at the time that he expected the space rock to be "valued in the seven figures."

Meteorite hunters aren't the only ones trying to find objects hidden underground and out of sight. For a look at one archaeologist's gear, and what it helped find, click here.

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