Large Meteor Crashes On Earth, Has Alien Minerals

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Two years ago, a large meteor crashes on earth, in Somalia - and today, researchers find amazing discoveries!

In a 15 tonne meteorite found in Somalia - the ninth largest meteorite ever discovered - researchers have identified at least two new minerals that have never been found before on Earth. The researchers say it has alien minerals!

According to the team, finding new minerals in meteorites, in particular, is a very rare occurrence. About 4,000 minerals are known to science, and they account for all the rocks currently on the planet. However, only 300 minerals have been discovered in meteorites, the rocks that crashed on our planet by aliens.

Minerals were collected from the El Ali meteorite, named after the town in Somalia [1].

As one of the largest meteorites ever discovered, the El Ali meteorite measures about 6.6 feet long, 4.3 feet tall, and 3.3 feet wide. It weighs more than 33,000 pounds, making it the 9th largest meteorite in the world.

As a result of the particular conditions in which these minerals formed, this discovery is of great significance.

The minerals have been named "elaliite," after the town where the meteorite crashed, and "elkinstantonite," after planetary scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton. Additionally, Elkins-Tanton is leading the NASA Psyche Mission, which is expected to launch next year on an iron asteroid.

Additionally, there may have been a third mineral found, which is currently under review by a committee.

This discovery is significant due to the particular conditions under which the minerals were formed.

In Herd's opinion, "finding a new mineral means the actual geological conditions, the chemistry of the rock, were different from what was previously found," which is why it is exciting to find a new mineral in this particular meteorite. There are two minerals which have been described to science for the first time in this particular meteorite [2]."

Scientist Chi Ma, a senior staff member at CalTech and a mineralogist, analyzed the sample from the El Ali meteorite in 2022, and confirmed that the researchers had discovered something that had never before been observed.

"Whenever you find a new mineral, it means that the actual geological conditions, the chemistry of the rock, was different than what's been found before," said the team excavating the meteor."That's what makes this exciting," he added. "In this particular meteorite, you have two officially described minerals that are new to science."

"It just shows that there are new things to discover all the time," said Chris Herd, a professor at the University of Alberta who discovered the unknown minerals.

Although the future of the meteorite remains uncertain, Herd reports that it has been moved to China in search of a buyer. Additional samples may be available in the future for scientific research [3].