Kentish Express Ashford & District
Meteorite pieces will be stars of antiques show
An antiques dealership is set to provide an out-of-this-world offer to visitors to a fair, with the opportunity to buy a piece of meteorite from a famous crater.
John Shepherd and Erna Hiscock, based in Ashford, will take pieces of the original meteorite from the Barringer Meteorite Crater in Arizona to the Antiques For Everyone Spring Fair at the NEC in Birmingham, which runs from today (Thursday) until Sunday.
Hi s c o c k a n d S h e p h e r d Antiques will give visitors the chance to purchase a piece of 50,000-year-old history.
The Barringer Meteorite crater, named in honour of mining magnate Daniel Barringer who was first to successfully suggest the crater was caused by meteorite impact, is located in the North Arizona desert and is the breath-taking result of a collision between an asteroid travelling 26,000 miles per hour and planet Earth approximately 50,000 years ago.
It is composed of nickel-iron and is more than 30 metres across and weighs more than 270,000 metric tons.
The force of the explosion when it hit planet earth is estimated to have been equal to 2.5 megatons of TNT, which is about 150 times the force of the atomic bomb which destroyed Hiroshima during the Second World War.
The impact predated humankind an the force of the explosion melted the meteorite, dispersing it across the landscape in a fine mist of molten metal.
This mist became mixed with partially melted limestone and sandstone which was blasted out of the crater.
It is pieces of this ancient amalgam that visitors will be able to buy at the Spring Fair and add to their collections.
Mary Claire Boyd, Antiques for Everyone’s Summer Fair Director, said: “It quite literally is an out-of-this-world opportunity for those visiting the fair and we give thanks to John Shepherd and Erna Hiscock for bringing such an unusual item for sale.”
For more details visit www. antiquesforeveryone.co.uk