An Ambler man is chasing pieces of outer space and racing against time to recover them, writes Aubrey Whelan for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Meteorite hunter Brett Joseph Cohen recently dropped everything after reports of a meteor streaking across the skies in Pennsylvania and Ohio, setting off a sonic boom and sparking a search for fragments.
Within hours, Cohen packed up and drove west, joining a small network of professional meteor hunters. They combed Ohio fields for pieces of the asteroid, believed to have originated from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The fragments, some selling for hundreds of dollars per gram, are scattered across a roughly 10-mile “strewn field.”
So far, Cohen has recovered five pieces, described as dark, textured stones formed during their fiery descent through Earth’s atmosphere.
While valuable, Cohen says the appeal goes beyond profit. He shares finds with scientists, sells some to collectors, and educates landowners along the way. He even helps locals identify potential meteorites on their own property.
A Huntingdon Valley native, Cohen turned his lifelong fascination into a full-time career about six years ago.
Now, he’s eager to return to the search, convinced a much larger piece remains undiscovered.
To learn more about Cohen and the world of meteorite hunters, visit The Philadelphia Inquirer.
