Second Magnet Test Fails to Confirm Extraterrestrial Origin; Specimen Retains 'Space Rock' Status in Household

A 84-gram dark specimen from an undisclosed county gravel bar failed a second neodymium magnet test on Tuesday, yet remains labeled "space rock" on a household shelf.

The Measurement Desk received the specimen after its finder, a member of the local lapidary club, brought it to the monthly identification bench. Method followed the club's ordinary procedure: a 12-mm N52 neodymium magnet was suspended on a 10-cm thread and brought to within 5 mm of the specimen's broad face at 20°C. Adhesion would register as swing contact. Test one produced no contact. Test two, repeated after rotating the specimen 180 degrees, produced no contact. Uncertainty: ±1 mm placement; observer blinking not recorded.

Karima's Denominator for the quarter stands at 17 submitted meteorite claims, of which 16 retired after magnet or streak testing. This specimen is the sole holdout, not through error but through household vote. The finder's housemate, Harold Loomis, confirmed the tally. "She held a family meeting," Loomis said. "The motion to reclassify as 'interesting river stone' failed 2–1, with the cat abstaining. I've learned not to mention the lack of nickel streak."

Otis Vale, standards-board fixture, issued a procedural ruling quoted across three group chats: "Per Section 4 of the field guide, two negative magnet tests presume terrestrial origin pending a streak test on unglazed porcelain. The board has no jurisdiction over mantelpieces." He added that the specimen's polish prevented a responsible streak without risking the surface, a constraint the bench respects.

At the identification bench, the commenter every thread expects asked first for a streak test before offering an opinion. "Happy to rub it on the back of a tile," the finder replied, "but it's my great-aunt's buffet, so we're calling it space until proven river." The buffet in question is not the specimen; the specimen sits beside it.

Inez Fenn, who writes the monthly rockhounding update, recorded the outcome without drama: "Specimen 11-J retains extraterrestrial classification per household registry. Field status: gravel bar, undated. Evidence: two magnet non-events. Disposition: shelf." Fenn's quietly kept ledger now lists more family-designated space rocks than laboratory-confirmed ones.

The tumbler log elsewhere notes a separate batch reaching stage three, but this specimen was never tumbled; its polish is inherited from unknown machinery. Specific gravity was attempted via hydrostatic weigh in a graduated cylinder, yielding 2.6 ± 0.2 g/cm³, consistent with common quartzite rather than iron meteorite (7.8–8.0). The denominator of confidence thus narrows.

Harold Loomis reported that the magnet now lives in a kitchen drawer, "away from the object that shall not be demoted." He has taken to describing the specimen as "selective acquisition" when visitors ask.

The specimen's origin remains unconfirmed by any test described here. It stays on the shelf because it is cool to the touch and fits the palm exactly, which the household considers sufficient.