SHARON CENTER, Ohio (WJW) — A park in the heart of the quiet Medina County community of Sharon is considered prime hunting ground for those looking for the meteor fragments that streak across the sky on St. Patrick’s Day.
Roberto Vargas, 40, of Bristol, Conn., was part of a small team of meteorite trackers who converged on Northeast Ohio after scientific evidence from Doppler radar showed fragments of the seven-ton fireball scattered across an area in Medina County.
“Basically, they use the American Meteor Society’s tracks to look along a line and see if there are hailstones that only last once or a few times, because that’s what the rocks look like in the sky,” Vargas told Fox 8.
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Vargas said he has found two meteorites so far in Medina County.
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“No rock on Earth looks like this. The molten crust is unique to meteorites and the surface features are unique to meteorites,” he said.
It turns out that there is a market for meteorites. Those willing to pay for the fragments include individual collectors, universities and museums. Its value lies in the age of the shattered meteorite and its rare scientific quality.
Vargas said he made $40,000 in 2017 from the first meteorite fragments he collected and sold in Costa Rica.
“Three days ago it was on the other side of the moon, and now it’s here,” Vargas said, holding up a small fragment discovered Thursday at the center of the salon. “I’m the first person to touch this stone. This stone is 4.56 billion years old. It tells us about the formation of the Earth, it tells us about the origin of species, so it’s really fascinating stuff.”
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The opportunity to own a piece of St. Patrick’s Day meteorite history also piques the interest of many, from professional and amateur collectors to curious college students, such as Kent State University Norton senior Matthew Bradford, who discovered a small fragment of great personal value in the center of the salon.
“It’s kind of crazy. I’ve seen YouTube videos of people looking for something like this online, but I’ve never had the means to go somewhere and have the time and resources to find something like this, so having something so local is kind of like a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me,” he smiles.
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