Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Have an interesting or epic climbing story? Post it here.
Forum rules
  • This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
  • Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
  • Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
  • Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
For more details, please see the Terms of Use you agreed to when joining the forum.
User avatar
Oldskool70
Posts: 180
Joined: 7/18/2011
14ers: 28  1  1 
Trip Reports (4)
 

Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by Oldskool70 »

Anyone ever find some light-weight aluminum-like metal impacting from space on the southeast ridge (route #5)? I found some (back in the day) while eating lunch near the rocky point around 13750. It was near liguid form on impact...then cooled around/on the granite. Still trying to figure it out after all these years. I took the two biggest blobs home but there was still plenty of smaller bits in a 10-15' impact area. Pictures to follow (just got on as a new member today)...
If you're not moshing, it's NOT music.
happyhappyjoyjoy
Posts: 10
Joined: 7/18/2009
14ers: 9 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by happyhappyjoyjoy »

UFO? Hiking pole hit by lightning? Plane wreck? Thought I heard about a plane crash there in the 80"s?
"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds"- Edward Abbey
mountainmanny
Posts: 87
Joined: 6/27/2011
14ers: 12 
13ers: 17
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by mountainmanny »

pics...pics!

we can figure this out quick once we see some images.... bust out a knife and some crystals to test its mohs(if it's a rock, mineral, meteorite, or smelter biproduct) i would guess it isn't, but that speculation would be put to bed.
"The best climber....is the one having the most fun" ~ Alex Lowe
“Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong" ~ John Lennon
User avatar
Oldskool70
Posts: 180
Joined: 7/18/2011
14ers: 28  1  1 
Trip Reports (4)
 

Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by Oldskool70 »

I dunno. the two pieces I have are the size of a loaf of bread so it's not poles hit by lightening. I was not brought up and melted. If it came from a plane I don't think it would get to that stage of heat before impact. I asked a asteroid collector & he thinks it's space junk. No one else ever discovered this spot?
If you're not moshing, it's NOT music.
User avatar
crossfitter
Posts: 901
Joined: 7/7/2009
Trip Reports (7)
 

Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by crossfitter »

Contrary to popular belief, things which re-enter the atmosphere from space are often cool and sometimes have frost on them when they land. The heating from atmospheric reentry is so intense and brief that it tends to ablate the outer layer and never has a chance to heat up the inside. Seems unlikely to have come from space.
- A mountain is not a checkbox to be ticked
- Alpinism and mountaineering are not restricted to 14,000 foot mountains
- Judgment and experience are the two most important pieces of gear you own
- Being honest to yourself and others about your abilities is a characteristic of experienced climbers
- Courage cannot be bought at REI or carried with you in your rucksack

mountainmanny
Posts: 87
Joined: 6/27/2011
14ers: 12 
13ers: 17
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by mountainmanny »

and another possibility is that someone could have carried "it" up... found it lower down, then realized "why the hell am I still lugging this around!?!"

i am an avid rock hound and I know I am always guilty of this...find a rock or crystal somewhere, throw it in the pack. Be stopped on a break somewhere else, reach in for a Cliff Bar and pull out a rock that looked way cooler when you found it than it does now....back to the ground it goes!
"The best climber....is the one having the most fun" ~ Alex Lowe
“Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong" ~ John Lennon
User avatar
Oldskool70
Posts: 180
Joined: 7/18/2011
14ers: 28  1  1 
Trip Reports (4)
 

Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by Oldskool70 »

Actually one of the chunks was imbedded on/around the granite up top. When I pulled it off, part of the granite stuck to it. Imagine someone taking a molten piece of metal the size of a basketball and throwing it down ferociously. Wthin this 10' span was a 50 or so small spatters eveywhere. There is one small machined, man-made circle of metal that did not melt.

Space (or just high altitude), I don't understand the lack of burning remnants. The chunks are as shiny as a nickel.

I know, I know. get the pics loaded ( I'll do tonight hopefully).
If you're not moshing, it's NOT music.
User avatar
crossfitter
Posts: 901
Joined: 7/7/2009
Trip Reports (7)
 

Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by crossfitter »

Are you sure it was a light metal and not iron? It sounds like someone could have been playing with thermite up there. Would explain the little metal splatters.
- A mountain is not a checkbox to be ticked
- Alpinism and mountaineering are not restricted to 14,000 foot mountains
- Judgment and experience are the two most important pieces of gear you own
- Being honest to yourself and others about your abilities is a characteristic of experienced climbers
- Courage cannot be bought at REI or carried with you in your rucksack

mountainmanny
Posts: 87
Joined: 6/27/2011
14ers: 12 
13ers: 17
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by mountainmanny »

Pics would help considerably.... Here is a list of know mineral species in Chaffee County (to give you an idea of how open ended this could be)

if it was indeed in the Granite...this will be super easy to figure out..

Acanthite
Actinolite
Aeschynite-(Y)
Aikinite
Albite
var: Andesine
'Albite-Anorthite Series'
'Allanite'
Allanite-(Ce)
Almandine
Altaite
'Amphibole Group'
var: Uralite
Anatase
Andalusite
Andradite
Anglesite
Ankerite
Anorthite
var: Bytownite
var: Labradorite
Anthophyllite
Antlerite
'Apatite'
Arseniosiderite
Arsenolite
Arsenopyrite
'Asbestos'
Augite
Aurichalcite
Azurite
Bariopharmacosiderite
Baryte
Bazzite
Bertrandite
Beryl
var: Aquamarine
var: Goshenite
β-Uranophane
Biotite
Bismuth
Bismuthinite
Bismutite
Bornite
Brannerite
Brochantite
Burkeite
Calcite
Cassiterite
Cerussite
Chalcanthite
Chalcocite
Chalcopyrite
'Chevkinite'
Chlorargyrite
'Chlorite Group'
Chrysocolla
'Chrysoprase' ?
'Clay'
Clinochlore ?
Clinohumite
Clinozoisite
Columbite
Columbite-(Mn)
'Columbite-Tantalite'
Copper
'Copper Stain'
Cordierite
Corundum
var: Sapphire
Covellite
Cristobalite
Cummingtonite
Cuprite
Cuprotungstite
Descloizite
Diopside
Dolomite
var: Ferroan Dolomite
Dravite
Emplectite
Epidote
Euclase
Euxenite-(Y)
'Feldspar Group'
Ferberite
Ferrimolybdite
Fluorapatite
Fluorite
Fourmarierite ?
'Gadolinite'
Gadolinite-(Y)
Gahnite
Galena
var: Argentiferous Galena
'Garnet'
Gedrite
Glaucophane ?
Goethite
Gold
Goslarite
Graphite
Grossular
var: Hessonite
Gypsum
Halite
Hematite
var: Martite
var: Specularite
Hemimorphite
Hercynite
Högbomite
'Hornblende'
Hübnerite
Hydrozincite
Hypersthene
Ilmenite
Jarosite
Kaolinite
Kasolite
'K Feldspar'
'var: Adularia'
Kogarkoite
Kyanite
Laumontite
Leucoxene
Limonite
Linarite
Lizardite
Magnesiohornblende
Magnesite
Magnetite
Malachite
Manganite
Marcasite
Melanterite
'Mica Group'
Microcline
Microlite Group
Mimetite
Molybdenite
Molybdite
'Monazite'
Monazite-(Ce)
Montmorillonite
Muscovite
var: Fuchsite
var: Sericite
'Obsidian'
'Olivine'
Opal
var: Opal-AN
Orthoclase
'Perthite'
Phenakite
'Phillipsite'
Phlogopite
Platinum ?
Plumbojarosite
Polybasite
Polycrase-(Y)
Pseudobrookite
'Psilomelane'
'Pumice'
Pyrite
Pyrolusite
Pyromorphite
Pyrophanite
Pyrophyllite
Pyrrhotite
Quartz
var: Amethyst
var: Chalcedony
var: Chert
var: Flint
var: Rock Crystal
var: Rose Quartz
var: Rutilated Quartz
Quartz
var: Smoky Quartz
Rhodochrosite
Rhodonite
Romanèchite
Rosasite
Rutile
var: Ilmenorutile
var: Strüverite
Samarskite-(Y)
Sanidine
'Scapolite'
var: Wernerite
Scheelite
Schorl
Scorodite
'Serpentine Group'
Serpierite
Siderite
Sillimanite
Silver
Smithsonite
Spessartine
Sphalerite
Spinel
Staurolite
Stellerite
Stephanite
'Stilbite'
Struvite
Sulphur
Sylvanite ?
Talc
Tantalite
Tellurobismuthite
Tennantite
Tenorite
Tetradymite
Thorogummite
Titanite
Topaz
'Tourmaline'
Tremolite
Tridymite
Triplite
Trona
Uraninite
Vermiculite
Vesuvianite
'Wad'
Wavellite
Willemite
Wolframite
Wollastonite
Wulfenite
Xenotime-(Y)
Yukonite
Zircon
var: Cyrtolite
Zoisite

Was it this kind of shiny... Image

or more like this...Image

is it brittle or hard? does it fracture in like sized pieces? can you scratch it with a steel blade?
"The best climber....is the one having the most fun" ~ Alex Lowe
“Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong" ~ John Lennon
User avatar
Oldskool70
Posts: 180
Joined: 7/18/2011
14ers: 28  1  1 
Trip Reports (4)
 

Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by Oldskool70 »

Image

Image

Image

Image
If you're not moshing, it's NOT music.
mountainmanny
Posts: 87
Joined: 6/27/2011
14ers: 12 
13ers: 17
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by mountainmanny »

do you have full size images?

Looks to be Aluminium.... something was melted down or struck by lightning

not a natural element or mineral
"The best climber....is the one having the most fun" ~ Alex Lowe
“Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong" ~ John Lennon
Post Reply