Titanium Strange lump
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3DStrange lump.
Ed Pegg found this strange-looking lump of metal/crystal in some sand when he was 6 years old, and has managed to keep it for 33 years through about 20 moves. He never knew what it was until I took it in for analysis by x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy at the Center for Microanalysis of Materials, University of Illinois (partially supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under grant DEFG02-91-ER45439).

You'll never guess what it is: I was certainly quite surprised to find out and so was Ed. It is a mixture of 62% iron and 38% titanium (!). Since he found it near an air force base in Florida, it's almost certainly some kind of alien space metal that fell off a truck transporting a crashed flying saucer to the secret lab at the air force base.

Either that or Ed should go back to where he found it and become fabulously wealthy after staking a titanium mining claim.

Source: Ed Pegg Jr
Contributor: Ed Pegg Jr
Acquired: 18 December, 2002
Price: Donated
Size: 1"
Purity: 38%
Titanium