Meteorite Crater in Duckwater, Nevada

A 1951 article in Popular Astronomy suggested that this enigmatic depression might be a meteorite crater, and a report of a local Native American legend about "a ball of fire rushing from the sky" lent some support. The feature has even given its name ("Meteorite Crater") to the USGS 7.5' topographic quadrangle map. However, the feature is not mentioned in the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 99A on the geology of northern Nye County.

The depression has been partly filled in with sediment, which could have concealed evidence of its origin. However, no magnetic material has been found in the sediment, and no magnetic anomaly is associated with the depression. The crater has no obvious raised rim, either, which is typical of a high-velocity impact. Of course, an impacting object might be iron-poor and have relatively low velocity due to atmospheric braking.

One obvious alternative interpretation is a limestone sinkhole, as there is limestone bedrock in the vicinity. Resolving the origin definitely would require considerably more expensive investigation, such as by drilling.