SMYRNA, Tenn. - A retiree in Smyrna got the surprise of her life
recently. Betty LeMaster discovered that the rock she'd been
using as a doorstop for 16 years was actually a 450-million-
year-old fossilized coral. LeMaster found what she first thought
was just a unique rock in her front yard more than a decade ago,
but always thought there was something more to it. After her
husband reassured her it was probably nothing more than a
unique-looking rock, she decided to keep it, and use it as a
doorstop inside her home. But recently, she said while she was
watching an episode of the geological TV series "America
Unearthed," she thought to get the rock checked out by a
geologist to find out about it. The geologist, MTSU professor
Alan Brown, said he immediately could tell what it was: not a
rock, but a ten-pound fossilized coral, estimated to be about
450-million years old. "I couldn't believe it, and my daughter
looked at me and said, 'You used it as a door prop for 16
years!'," LeMaster said. "Needless to say it