Educator's Guide to Micrometeorites . ... They are actually small bits of rock and metal that collide with Earth's upper atmosphere and, because of friction, burn up. On rare occasions, man-made satellites and spacecraft parts fall into the atmosphere and burn up the same way. ... That is what is happening to the particles in the upper atmosphere. ... Most meteorites fall into Earth's oceans. ... There is an easy way to collect meteorites, but we must be satisfied with finding small metal ones. ...