The Science Channel ( Home of The Meteorite Men ) Has published an article on the Top Ten Meteorites of All Time.

Here’s the list with links to the info pages. Science Channel’s Top Ten Meteorites

10 – Allende Meteorite – Carbonaceous meteorite fall in Mexico 1969
9 – Murchison Meteorite – Carbonaceous meteorite fall in Australia 1969
8 – Peekskill Meteorite – Chondrite meteorite impacted car in Peekskill NY 1992
7 – Orgueil Meteorite – Meteorite fell May 1864
6 – ALH 84001 – Martian meteorite found in Antarctica 1984 (Possible Fossilized Microbial Lifeforms)
5 – Sylacauga/Hodges Meteorite – Meteorite hit 31 year old woman 1954
4 – Sikhote-Alin – Iron meteorite falls in Russia (Sikhote Alin Mountains) 1947
3 – Willamette Meteorite – Largest meteorite found in the United States 1902
2 – Hoba Meteorite – Largest meteorite in the world found in Namibia Africa 1920
1 – Tunguska Event – NOT a meteorite but comet/asteroid explosion over Siberia, Russia in 1908

Now here’s my issue with this list. Though I have more than one problem with this list I’ll supply the biggest one first. The ALH 84001 Martian meteorite is perhaps the most scientifically important meteorite ever discovered by man since the beginning of time. This is not an overstatement but rather just an opinion based on the fact that scientists believe there is evidence of fossilized microbial lifeforms found within the stone. Not to mention the second fact that it’s the only meteorite from the planet Mars that made it to the list.

To further the “problem” the Science Channel’s Top Ten list continue with the Tunguska Event which happened over Siberia in Russia in 1908. First off the Tunguska Event isn’t even a meteorite. This hotly debated “airburst” event leveled thousands of square miles of forest and started a firestorm of scientific study and intrigue. To this day no meteorite specimens have ever been recovered by any of the many meteorite expedition teams that have ventured out into the blast zone. In my opinion this event need not be on a “Top Ten Meteorite” list at all. It’s an event, NOT a meteorite.

If the ALH 84001 Martian meteorite is proven to harbor fossilized lifeforms this makes it the first meteorite in history to ever have been discovered with such an important find, and more importantly it will prove that we are not alone! That aliens do in fact exist. Even the possibility of this being true in my opinion makes the ALH 84001 worthy of the #1 spot on the list.

If that’s not worthy of the #1 spot on ANY Top Ten list I don’t know what is. Do you?

Maybe I’m a bit biased because I think that the possible discovery of lifeforms from somewhere other than Earth should mean more than a #6 spot on the Top Ten Meteorites of All Time.

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