>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

By popular demand, a meteorite scientist will return to Northeast Oregon to present two final programs to encourage the public to search for meteorites that likely fell from the fireball that exploded overhead in the early hours of Feb. 19.

Dick Pugh, meteorite scientist with the Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory at Portland State University, will give programs Tuesday at Pleasant Grove Grange, 67218 Hunter Road in Summerville, and Wednesday at the Elgin Public Library, 1699 Division St.

Both programs begin at 6:30 p.m. and all ages are invited to attend.

“We’ve received dozens upon dozens of calls from people saying they saw the fireball, they saw a large stream of sparks behind it when it blew apart, and they want to know what to look for,’’ Pugh said.

“People are out there looking for meteorites. And the phone hasn’t stopped ringing.’’

Pugh will present information about the fireball and its significance to scientists worldwide as the largest fireball seen over the Pacific Northwest in at least 25 years.

He will also bring $15,000 worth of meteorites so that program attendees can see and feel what these rocks from outer space are like.

To date only four meteorites have been found in Oregon, none east of the Cascades.  Prior to the fireball, scientists claimed there is at least one meteorite lying on every half square mile in Eastern Oregon. Now, of course, there may be considerably more. Pugh said scientists believe the fireball left a stream of meteorites in its wake.

Pugh asks attendees to bring any unusual or questionable rocks for identification. Meteorites are heavy, often pitted with a burnt surface, and quite valuable. They belong to whoever owns the property where they fall.

Pugh is known as an engaging speaker who researches meteorites internationally.

The meteorite programs are sponsored by Libraries of Eastern Oregon in collaboration with the Pleasant Grove Grange and Elgin Public Library with funding provided by The Randall Charitable Trust of Portland.

To learn more about the PSU Cascadia Meteorite Lab, go online http://meteorites.pdx.edu . Pugh can be reached directly at 503-287-6733.

For further information about LEO and its science programs for rural Oregon, contact Executive Director Lyn Craig at 541-763-2355. Contacts for the programs are Jennie Tucker of Summerville, who serves on the LEO advisory board and also the Pleasant Grove Grange, at 534-2990, and Theresa Chandler, director of the Elgin Public Library, at 437-2860.