Finally, there’s something in the fields of Western Kansas besides miles and miles of nothing but miles.

Scientists located a rare meteorite in a wheat field thanks to new ground penetrating radar technology that someday might be used on Mars.

The dig in Kansas Monday was likely the most documented excavation yet of a meteorite find, with researchers painstakingly using brushes and hand tools in order to preserve evidence of the impact trail and to date the event of the meteorite strike. Soil samples were also bagged and tagged, and organic material preserved for dating purposes.

Even before they had the meteorite out of the ground, the scientific experts at the site were able to debunk prevailing wisdom that the spectacular meteorite fall of Brenham, Kansas, occurred 20,000 years ago. Its location in the Pleistocene epoch soil layer puts that date closer to 10,000 years ago.

“We know it is recent,” said Carolyn Sumners, director of Astronomy at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, as she surveyed progress on the dig. “Native Americans could have seen it.”

The meteorite was found in the Brenham field and weighs 154 pounds.

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