At first Panuska didn t seem to be really interested, Riley said. That may be because Panuska said he has examined an average of two rocks a year for the past 12 years and none of them ever turned out to be the real thing. However, Panuska told Riley to bring the rock to him to check it out. The first thing that got me was that the rock was extremely magnetic, Panuska said. Although Panuska is not a petrologist he is as close as it gets within the MSU staff.
Petrology is the study of all rocks, including meteorites.
Panuska sent a sample to Hap McSween, a nationally acclaimed petrologist at the University of Tennessee, who confirmed Pnuska s suspicion that Riley s discovery was not from this planet. Riley, who thinks of himself as an amateur archaeologist, noticed something else that made the rock unique. The rock had an indention on one side that led him to wonder if it was a common Native American tool called a nutting stone. It was apparent to me that it was an ancient Indian tool of some sort, Riley said. He called John O Hear and explained his theory.