Case file · Cosmic event
Barringer and Meteor Crater
In 1903 mining engineer Daniel Barringer staked claims at Coon Butte in Arizona, convinced it was the scar of a giant meteorite whose iron lay buried beneath; most geologists then thought it a steam explosion.
1903 CE · 35.03, -111.02 · status: explained
The account
He drilled for decades without finding the mass. In 1960 Eugene Shoemaker identified shock-formed minerals there, proving the impact about 50,000 years ago, and the crater became a training ground for Apollo astronauts.
The sceptical view
Barringer was right about the impact and wrong about the buried iron, most of which vaporized.