Most rocks people send in turn out to be "meteor-wrongs". Work through these checks in order. If your rock passes most of them, step 6 explains how to get it confirmed. This guide began as the Howardites identification service in 2015.
Pick it up. Most meteorites feel heavy for their size because they contain iron-nickel metal. Ordinary Earth rocks have a density of about 2.6 to 2.8 g/cm³. Stony meteorites are usually 3.0 to 3.7, and iron meteorites around 7.5 to 8.
Try it: weigh the rock in grams, then lower it on a thread into a jug of water standing on kitchen scales. The rise in weight is its volume in cm³. Weight ÷ volume = density.
Hang a strong magnet (a rare-earth neodymium one is best) on a string and bring it close. Most meteorites pull it towards them because of their metal. Irons stick hard; ordinary chondrites attract clearly.
A few rare types, including many from the Moon and Mars, barely attract a magnet. Magnetite and some slag also attract magnets, so a pull alone doesn't prove anything.
Rub a corner firmly on the back of an unglazed ceramic tile. Meteorites usually leave little or no streak, or a faint grey one if the crust is rusty.
A red-brown streak means hematite. A black streak usually means magnetite. These two iron ores are the most common meteor-wrongs.
Almost every meteorite contains iron-nickel metal with at least about 5% nickel, which very few Earth rocks and man-made irons have. A nickel test kit (dimethylglyoxime, sold for jewellery testing) turns pink-red when it touches nickel-bearing metal on a freshly ground spot.
Adults only: follow the kit's safety instructions. A positive result is a strong hint, not proof.
If your rock passed most of these tests, take it, or clear daylight photos of it with a ruler for scale, to a natural history museum or a university geology department. Many will look at possible meteorites for free. In the UK, the Natural History Museum in London can advise.
Write down exactly where and when you found it. Don't clean it with water, acid or a wire brush. Only a laboratory analysis, approved by the Meteoritical Society, can confirm a meteorite and give it an official name.
Look up meteorites found near youWaste from smelting. Often glassy or shiny, full of gas bubbles, and found near old railways, foundries and farm tracks.
Heavy iron ores. Hematite gives a red-brown streak, magnetite a black one and attracts a magnet strongly.
Dark volcanic rock. Usually has small holes or crystals and weighs less than a meteorite of the same size.
Rusty, rounded lumps that grow in sediment. They often have layered insides and sand grains.
Old machine parts and cast iron. They contain little or no nickel and rust differently.
A dark, shiny coating on ordinary desert rocks that can look like fusion crust until you look at a broken face.
Before you search: ask the landowner's permission, and check the rules where you are. In some countries every meteorite found belongs to the state or must be reported to a museum.