''Meteorite Men'' is a documentary

reality television series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

featuring

meteorite hunter Meteorite hunting is the search for meteorites. A person engaged in the search for meteorites is known as a meteorite hunter. Meteorite hunters may be amateurs who search on the weekends and after work, or professionals who recover meteorites for ...

s Geoff Notkin and Steve Arnold. The pilot episode premiered on May 10, 2009. The full first season began on January 20, 2010 on the

Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manu ...

. The second season premiered November 2, 2010 and season three began November 28, 2011. Professors and scientists at prominent universities including UCLA, ASU, UA, Edmonton, and other institutions, including NASA's Johnson Space Center, are featured.

Summary

The show follows two

s, Steve Arnold and

Geoffrey Notkin Geoffrey Notkin (born February 1, 1961) is an American actor, author, and entrepreneur. Notkin is known as one of the hosts of ''Meteorite Men'', a documentary reality television series from Science Channel, which ran for three seasons. He is the ...

, as they travel around the world scouring the Earth's surface for

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

s. Arnold's background lies primarily in business, while Notkin is a passionate collector and

science writer Science journalism conveys reporting about science to the public. The field typically involves interactions between scientists, journalists, and the public. Origins Modern science journalism dates back to ''Digdarshan'' (means showing the di ...

. In the pilot episode of ''Meteorite Men'', Notkin and Arnold travel to the farmlands of Brenham, Kansas, where Arnold located and recovered the largest oriented pallasite ever found. ''Meteorite Men'' has won two bronze Telly Awards. The show has also spawned a modern-day "gold rush" as thousands of amateur meteorite hunters now scour the globe each year in search of meteorites.

Notable finds

The World's Largest Oriented Pallasite

Some of the specimens found on the show were sold to collectors, while others were donated to university collections. In October 2009, Arnold and geologist Philip Mani located and recovered the largest oriented pallasite ever found, in Brenham, Kansas, using a metal detector he created himself and a unique mapping technique. This is the location where the ''Meteorite Men'' pilot was filmed. The pallasite was on display at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show in 2006. The pallasite has been exhibited at: *The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History (2006) *The Exploration Place in Wichita, Kansas (2006 & 2007) *Kansas City Union Station (2007) *Center for Earth & Space Science Center in Tyler, Texas (2011) *U.S. Space and Rocket Center, ''Space Mania'', Tel Aviv, Israel (2013) *Space Center Houston (NASA) (2015)

Morasko, Poland

In 2011, Arnold and Notkin found two irons, weighing approximately and , at and deep, respectively, while filming Episode 1 of Season 3 of ''Meteorite Men'' in the Morasko Meteorite Nature Reserve in Poland. The discovery of these specimens below the depth of previously recorded finds suggested that further, more detailed surveys should be conducted with improved metal detecting equipment. Furthermore, the larger specimen was found embedded in a

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

clay, which proves that it fell at that exact spot and was not transported by glaciers, disproving an earlier theory.

Episodes

Season 1 (2010)

Season 2 (2010)

Season 3 (2011–12)

Cultural impact

''Meteorite Men'' has been cited as a possible reason behind the spike in interest regarding meteorites and meteorite hunting in the early 2010s. Dr. Laurence Garvie of the Center for Meteorite Studies at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

has stated that after his appearance on the show, he and his colleagues received about a half-dozen boxes of rocks each week from viewers who believed they had found a meteorite.

The Sterley pallasite

In approximately 1950, a farmer came across a 1,724.8 gram mass while plowing a field. The specimen, which displayed regmaglypts and fusion crust, was not fully classified until 2012, when the son of the finder, after watching ''Meteorite Men'', took the specimen to Dr. Laurence Garvie at the Center for Meteorite Studies, ASU, for further analysis. The entire mass was then acquired by Ruben Garcia of Mr. Meteorite and Geoffrey Notkin of Aerolite Meteorites and ''Meteorite Men''.

Steve Curry incident

In 2012, Detective Ryan Piotrowski of the Grand Junction Police Department charged Steve Curry with misdemeanor theft and fraud for selling false meteorites. Piotrowski had seen ''Meteorite Men'' and became intrigued by the case when it landed on his sergeant's desk.

References

External links

Official website of the Meteorite MenOfficial Meteorite Men Facebook pageMeteorite Men YouTube Page
* ttp://www.geoffnotkin.com/ Geoff Notkin Official Blogbr>Steve Arnold Space Fest
*{{IMDb title, 1487514 2009 American television series debuts 2012 American television series endings 2000s American reality television series 2010s American reality television series 2000s American documentary television series 2010s American documentary television series Science Channel original programming Collecting