Chalk Mountain is a small

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Erath County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States. It lies along

U.S. Route 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues ...

near the Somervell County line, about 12 miles southwest of

Glen Rose Glen Rose (April 23, 1905 – September 3, 1994) was an American football and basketball coach. He served as the head basketball coach at the University of Arkansas from 1933 to 1942 and again from 1952 to 1966, as well as the head football coach ...

. In 2009 Chalk Mountain was the site of a meteorite hoax.

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

SEAL Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

Sniper

Chris Kyle Christopher Scott Kyle (April 8, 1974 – February 2, 2013) was a United States Navy SEAL sniper. He served four tours in the Iraq War and was awarded several commendations for acts of heroism and meritorious service in combat. He has over 150 c ...

and Chad Littlefield were murdered at a shooting range near Chalk Mountain on February 2, 2013.

Notable person

* Jerry Naylor, recording artist, disc jockey, and television and radio personality

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Chalk Mountain has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Meteorite hoax

In May 2009 Manfred Cuntz, a professor of physics and the director of the astronomy program at the

University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of ...

, was called in to investigate a supposed meteorite impact. Cuntz along with other experts, a Fox TV film crew and the property owner met at the site. They found a refrigerator-sized gray-white rock at the end of a trench. A few smashed trees were nearby, but no signs of burning could be seen. Arthur Ehlmann, a professor of geology at the

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

and an expert in meteoric research, chipped off a piece of the stone and pronounced it to be made of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, which was plentiful in the area. Generally, meteorites are not composed of limestone. Local newspapers, TV and the Texas Mutual UFO network sensationalized the story trying to explain how it could be a meteorite despite its composition, lack of burning as it would have had if it zipped through the atmosphere. A meteorite of this size would have "caused widespread devastation", yet nothing of this sort occurred. Later on, Cuntz received an email that linked the property owner to being the owner of an earth-moving equipment company. His website mentioned that their equipment could move rock of any size. Cuntz made the Fox TV station aware of his conclusion that this meteorite impact was probably a hoax, and the TV station took the news clip off their website.

References

Bibliography

*T. Lindsay Baker, Ghost Towns of Texas (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986). *Vallie Eoff, A History of Erath County, Texas (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1937).

External links

Chalk Mountain, Texas
from the Handbook of Texas Online
Chalk Mountain info at Howe Town Locator.com website
Unincorporated communities in Texas Unincorporated communities in Erath County, Texas Ghost towns in East Texas {{ErathCountyTX-geo-stub