My friend David visited the other day and brought a number of Ordovician fossils found south of Lexington, Kentucky to get my opinion on their identification. Toward the end of his visit, he brought out a black-green glassy specimen. Hopefully, I am getting the story about this right so here goes...
He told me when he lived in California over 20 years ago where this piece was acquired. While visiting some friends they showed him a place in their garage with some burn marks on concrete. They said a large blacken mass showed up during a storm in the garage and appeared to have fallen there. [left the garage door open?] The piece is about 12 cm x 9 cm x 6 cm. It is a black to olive-green in color with a reflective surface with signs that air bubbles were in it. It has a white crystalline stones embedded in parts of it. The piece was part of larger mass that they had given pieces away to other visitors. My friend got the last piece.
I asked if there were was a heating furnace or stove around. No and the building did not date back to a time when coal heating would have been used. Upon examination, no metallic pieces were found but I did find a small brown spot in one of the holes. See pictures of close up this odd hairy object (plant or insect).
My first guess was coal slag though not sure why there are white rocks in the piece. Looked at it maybe being California obsidian but that does not appear to have bubbles. Maybe it was part of some sort of industrial process and was thrown from a furnace to this house? Maybe an glass artist lived nearby and this was failed artwork piece?
Odd, brown object in one of the small cavities.
