The search for alien material comes to Weyburn on Friday, August 11 with a meteorite search seminar.

Steve Kissin, a professor at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., will be hosting a meteorite display and rock identification seminar at Signal Hill Arts Centre from 1-4 p.m. on Friday. The seminar is part of the Prairie Meteorite Search, a project headed by the Canadian Space Agency and the University of Calgary with help from the University of Regina and the University of Western Ontario.

"If anyone thinks they have a meteorite, they can bring it to us and we'll examine it to determine whether or not it really is a meteorite," said Andrew Bird, an undergraduate geology student from the University of Calgary who is working on the project.

Researchers with the Prairie Meteorite Search travel through communities looking for weird rocks which the residents have come across in their yards and fields. The group has examined more than 300 stones on their tour so far this summer, but just one has been identified as a meteorite. The rock was found by a farmer in his pasture near Kyle, Sask.

Approximately 50 meteorites have been found in Canada, of which 13 were found in Saskatchewan and 14 in Alberta. The search team thinks there are more out there, and they consider the Prairies to be the most favourable recovery area in the country.

"A lot of people have told me they're always keeping their eyes out for weird rocks. Prairie farmers especially have a knack for finding weird rocks and keeping them. Now they can learn what to keep their eyes open for," said Bird.

"A meteorite has four main characteristics. First, they're heavy, significantly heavier than normal rocks because of their increased amounts of metals, especially iron and nickel. Secondly, they have a thin black crust covering the whole rock. This crust may erode over time or may rust, and that's the third characteristic; meteorites are usually rust coloured. Lastly, they have a scooped or shallowly pitted surface."

Researchers hope to use the information gained from the Prairie Meteorite Search to gradually piece together the history and chemical composition of the solar system. Anyone interested in learning more about meteorites or who think they have a meteorite can attend the Friday seminar or log on to the project web site at www.geo.ucalgary.ca/cdnmeteorite for more information.