Hickory Ridge resident Larry Brand found what he believes is a small rock from outer space. Brand said he was searching for arrowheads between Newport and Amagon when he found the unusual stone. McCartney Melville Taylor, a meteorite enthusiast, offered a reward of 5-thousand dollars to anyone that locates a chunk of the Newport meteorite in an article published in the Independent during November of 2009. Read more
The single Newport meteorite was recovered due to the media frenzy from the February 10, 1930 fireball that accompanied the Paragould Meteorite fall. A few days later an 820 pound Paragould meteorite was found at the bottom of an 8 foot hole southwest of Paragould. Mr. Nininger, the foremost meteorite hunter at the time was involved with the recovery at Paragould when he was contacted by a Newport resident. The resident had an elongated, loaf shaped iron stone that was dug up in the 1920's. This turned out to be the Newport Meteorite. Mr. Nininger purchased it for the standard bounty of $1/pound as was the custom. That bounty has gone up a bit over the years to $100/pound. Read more