Astronomers used to think that only good-sized meteorites reach the earth intact, while the smaller ones "burn" to vapor on passing through the atmosphere. But Dr. H. E. Landsberg at the U.S. Weather Bureau had another idea. He smeared some microscope slides with glycerin and exposed them on a mountaintop just before a shower of "Giacobinid" meteors* was expected. Before and during the shower, he caught nothing unusual. But for many days after the shower he caught highly magnetic particles unlike anything found in normal dust-catches.
Dr. Landsberg argued that his particles were bits...
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