Inquiring minds want to know... <g>
Wish we, the curious of the vortexian-universe, had more detail from
this story in order to ascertain what the metal in question is - which
appears to be ferromagnetic, non-radioactive but denser than iron/nickel
etc.
If the object was really the exact size of a golf ball and made of iron,
it should weigh-in at about 320 grams [a golf ball weighs about 40 grams
and has a specific gravity of about one and iron has a specific gravity
slightly less than 8 times greater. If a "can of soup" weighs 500 grams,
then this metal object can't be iron. A Cobalt alloy might fit the bill
closer... or iron/iridium.
In either case, it would be such an oddity that it cold be extremely
valuable to a collector... not to mention, if the owner turner out to be
a preacher ... well, he might start a religion around it...
Jones
Addenda: According to this story the object weights 13 ounces:
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=31615&in_page_id=2
The thing has a metallic appearance, a rough surface, and at 13 ounces
is noticeably heavier than would be expected for a metal object of its
size. It does not emit significant amounts of radiation, and thus far
has made no attempt to either contact, enslave, or destroy the human race.
13 ounces = ~370 grams
So it is probably an iron alloy, perhaps with some iridium which
extremely dense metal is fairly common in meteors - as Luis Alvarez is
famous for recognizing.
