Solved the Mystery of the 'Mars Meteorite' Discovered 100 Years Ago [Reading Science]

UK Glasgow University Research Team Analyzes 'Lafayette' Meteorite Composition
Successfully Identifies Discovery Path and Donor, Mold Toxin Found as Decisive Clue

The Martian meteorite 'Lafayette,' discovered in the United States in the 1920s (estimated) and currently housed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The mystery of the Martian meteorite discovered 100 years ago has been solved. The clue was the presence of a toxic substance from Earth found in the meteorite.

A research team at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, UK, announced on the 24th that after analyzing the composition of the famous Martian meteorite "Lafayette," which was donated about 100 years ago to Purdue University in Indiana, USA, they confirmed the previously mysterious discovery route and discoverer. Lafayette is the best-preserved Martian meteorite known to date, with almost no contamination from terrestrial materials. Its surface is clean without corrosion, hard and shiny like a pebble on the beach. Scientists have produced many research results indirectly confirming the geological composition and history of Mars through this meteorite.

However, it was not precisely known who discovered this meteorite, when, and how it came to be held by Purdue University. There was a clue: in 1935, Harvey Nininger, an American meteorite collector, testified that a Black Purdue student saw the meteorite fall into a lake while fishing, retrieved it from the muddy water, and donated it to the school.

This mystery was unraveled when the Glasgow research team, since 2019, had been conducting precise analyses using sophisticated mass spectrometers on tiny fragments of the Lafayette meteorite to find evidence of Martian life, and by chance discovered a toxic substance commonly found on Earth.

The team found vomitoxin, a toxin commonly found on Earth, in tiny fragments of the Lafayette meteorite. Also called deoxynivalenol, it is produced by fungi of the Fusarium genus. It is commonly found in corn affected by red mold fungus. It causes poisoning symptoms in humans and animals, and is known to have particularly severe effects on pigs.

Black students at Purdue University, USA, presumed to have discovered the Lafayette meteorite. Photo by the University of Glasgow, UK.

Why was an Earth toxin found on the surface of a Martian meteorite? The research team, intrigued by the story that the Lafayette meteorite fell into muddy water, began to study the discovery circumstances and discoverer in earnest. They first hypothesized that toxins attached to corn, wheat, and oats in nearby farmland were carried by wind into waterways, ponds, and lakes, contaminating the Lafayette meteorite. Furthermore, joint research with Purdue University’s agronomy, botany, and plant pathology experts confirmed that fungi producing this toxin had severely spread in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, where the Lafayette meteorite was found, in 1919 and 1927.

Checking astronomical observation records from the area revealed that on November 26, 1919, a large meteor shower was observed in northern Indiana and southern Michigan, and on July 13, 1927, a meteor explosion was observed in Tilden, Illinois. To identify the discoverer, they also found a list of Black students who attended Purdue between 1919 and 1927. In total, four Black students were identified. Putting this together, it is possible to infer that one of these four Black students attending Purdue in 1919 or 1927 retrieved the Lafayette meteorite from the muddy lake and donated it to their school.

Professor Annie O'Brien of the University of Glasgow explained, "The Lafayette meteorite is highly valuable because it is exceptionally well preserved compared to other Martian meteorites, which means it was quickly collected after falling to Earth," adding, "This research lends credibility to the background story of the discovery and donation of the Lafayette meteorite."