University of North Texas observatory manager Preston Starr and UNT’s director of the planetarium and astronomy lab program Ron DiIulio said they found the pieces Wednesday about 5 p.m.

DiIulio said the pieces are about the size of large pecans with a crust that’s black like charcoal.

The men said they got help in their search from sheriff’s deputies in the area and had been searching since 3 a.m. Wednesday.

They planned to take their finds to the university for scientific study.

DiIulio said he thinks there are larger pieces still to be found.

West is about 70 miles south of Dallas.

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The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday the fireball was a natural phenomenon – not flying space junk – and a North Texas astronomer said more specifically that it was probably a pickup truck-sized meteor with the consistency of concrete.

The object was visible Sunday morning from Austin to Dallas and into East Texas. In Central Texas, the Williamson County sheriff’s office received so many emergency calls that it sent a helicopter aloft to look for debris from a plane crash.

The FAA backed off its weekend claim that the fireball was caused by falling debris from colliding satellites plummeting into earth’s atmosphere.

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