Boomerang meteorite that flew from Earth to space and returned

The meteorite NWA 13188 seems to have travelled to space and back. Researchers say they have discovered a new kind a rock originally from Earth that went to space then came back. Boomerang meteorite left Earth then landed back down after round trip to space

A detailed analysis of the stone showed that it was formed by terrestrial volcanoes near submerged oceanic plates.

Scientists from France presented a new analysis of a meteorite that was found in Samara in 2018. Scientists claim that this meteorite flew from Earth to space, and after several thousand years returned back.

It informs ScienceAlert.

Jerome Gattaxek and his colleagues from the French National Center for Scientific Research undertook to study the meteorite “North West Africa (NWA) 13188”.

Scientists believe that the stone is of terrestrial origin – its detailed analysis and chemical composition showed that it was formed by volcanoes near submerged oceanic plates.

At the same time, there were changes in the chemical composition of the meteorite, in particular, it has a high concentration of helium-3, beryllium-10 and neon-21. Scientists explain that this happened due to the influence of the sun’s rays. On Earth, they are blocked by the planet’s magnetic field.

NWA 13188 also has a glassy “fusion crust”. Scientists say this indicates that the rock may have melted as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere.

Colleagues of the researchers do not really believe in the “boomerang journey” of the meteorite.