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https://news.wttw.com/2026/09/11/rock-star-meet-guy-who-exca...

here’s a picture of the actual rock - and digger! phew!

That is a wonderful article!

> Over the years, Pitelka has rescued some of these rocks and deposited them at his mom’s five-acre property, including a large hunk of limestone that, when he dumped it out of his truck, split in half to reveal a perfect trilobite fossil, convex on one side and a matching imprint on the other.

> “I was so excited to hear that the right people got involved,” he said. “I’m absolutely ecstatic it’s going to be on display. For me, as an (excavator) who loves boulders, it’s the coolest thing that people understand its historical significance and appreciate it.”

cr125rider 1d ago

Man this guy found his life’s calling. Love to see it.

elcritch 1d ago

I love the ambiguity as to whether his mom wants the rocks dropped off in her yard or not. ;)

MisterTea 21h ago

I know a lot of people who live in apartments but have a collection, usually classic computers, stored in their parents house. Hell, I was just talking to a guy few weeks ago who was lamenting how his parents threw out his "junk" pdp11 years ago.

mathgenius 1d ago

They should name it after this guy, the Pitelka rock.

xnx 1d ago

That rock couldn't have been found by a better guy.

Bluestein 1d ago

Even a rock has a soulmate! Not I.- /s

ComputerGuru 1d ago

TFA has a picture as well; just scroll down.

cmrx64 1d ago

I did but honestly didn’t see it. My connection was struggle to load all the billions of ads.

Am4TIfIsER0ppos 1d ago

I don't see it. I do see a blocked twitter embed and when I click the link to that I do see a rock https://x.com/cbschicago/status/2111193918909903146

aktenlage 2d ago

Thank you, great read.

matthewsinclair 2d ago

Surely it has to be “Boulder McBoulderface”?

[0]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36225652

samgranieri 1d ago

I was going to suggest just this! I love Boaty McBoatface.

But as a resident of the Chicago area, I’m partial to Da Rock

aceazzameen 1d ago

Can have the best of both worlds.

Da Rocky McRockface

tanseydavid 1d ago

Rocky McRockface is the perfect name and gets my vote.

MegaDeKay 1d ago

Came here with that same name in mind. It would be a stone cold crime if that wasn't picked.

dmd 1d ago

Gneiss!

senectus1 1d ago

Missed opportunity to call it "Rocky Bouldoa"

Mountain_Skies 1d ago

That would be a slam dunk winner if it was the airport in Philadelphia.

underdeserver 1d ago

I wonder if there'll be an episode of Hello Internet on it.

tjwebbnorfolk 1d ago

I think this is the only valid name

Stratoscope 2d ago

Here are the name finalists:

  • Sweet Stone Chicago
  • No ORDinary Rock
  • Chicago Rocks
  • O'Rock
  • Orchard Rock
  • Da Rock

"No ORDinary Rock" and "Orchard Rock" are the winners for me. They both pay tribute to how O'Hare got its IATA airport code in the 1940s, when it was called Orchard Field.

So deciding between the two, Orchard Rock is my pick! It's subtle, but the plaque can explain it.

swingandamiss 1d ago

I like "Orchard Rock" because it's not some stupid reddit'ism.

lbriner 1d ago

Just call it "Dwayne Johnson"?

Then in generations to some, old people can explain that Dwayne Johnson was the King of Wrestling and then became King of Hollywood.

adzm 1d ago

Naming things after living people is bad luck

jhatax 1d ago

Surprised to see `ExtraORDinary Rock` missing => 50-tons, that's got to meet the bar for extraordinary.

robotnikman 1d ago

I like 'Da Rock' because it reminds me of da orks from Warhammer 40K

firesteelrain 1d ago

Or ‘Da Bears’ trope from the SNL Skit

phlakaton 1d ago

So they completely ignored the discoverer's suggestion. Humbug.

whycome 1d ago

Wish I saw some of the larger list. This still seems weak.

ORD as an acronym? O Rock D

O’Hare Rock Dolostone O’Hare Runway Dolomite

Rocky.

Da Dolo

jhatax 1d ago

O Rock Damn.

wpm 1d ago

Shakin my damn head where is "Rock and Roll McDonald"

deepspace 1d ago

How is 'BDU' not the top choice?

toddmorey 1d ago

Beanie’s Baby

RaftPeople 1d ago

Ditka

atreat 21h ago

Digka

lenerdenator 23h ago

Sounds like something from the old Bill Swerski's Superfans sketches from SNL.

"Alright sooperfyans, next question. Who would win: Coach Ditka, or a 50-ton boulder flying down da side of a mountain?"

"Oh, dat's easy, Dit..."

"Hold ahhhn, hold ahhhn! Da boulder is also named 'Ditka'."

anonymousDan 1d ago

I like it. Ditka Rock has a certain ring to it.

JoeAltmaier 1d ago

"Mother's Love"

Because, we so often take it for granite.

syspec 1d ago

Interesting, the construction worker who found is said he never found one that big in all his years working in the field.

I had no idea that would be rare, what makes it relatively rare?

firesteelrain 1d ago

Largest dolomite rock ever found maybe ??

bcaulfield 2d ago

Should name it Dwayne Johnson and never explain further.

cestith 1d ago

Or Rudy Ray Moore.

chrismcb 1d ago

That boulder must be the size of a large boulder.

SideburnsOfDoom 1d ago

This is the answer.

FYI, this refers to "Large boulder the size of a small boulder" in 2020

https://time.com/5772944/large-small-boulder/

thehappypm 1d ago

The pioneers used to ride those babies for miles!

fuzzfactor 1d ago

Boulderdash!

ternaryoperator 1d ago

Is a 50-ton boulder rare or super-rare?

crisnoble 1d ago

In chicagoland, yes. For someone who moved there from California, it was strange that rocks hardly larger than a human warranted school field trips and plaques. Perhaps it is geologically cool, but I was unimpressed as a 6th grader. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53236492797_60069bde90_b...

waltbosz 1d ago

I thought the same thing. My back yard is full of huge rocks. Nothing quite that large, maybe 1/3 of that size. A few doors down there is a boulder twice as big as the O'Hare one.

I'm speaking in volume. I'm not sure of the mass of these boulders.

quickthrowman 1d ago

In an area that was covered by a glacier in the last 20k years, yes.

Chicago was covered by ice during the most recent glaciation, which means that boulder is probably a glacial erratic covered by till leftover from the movement of the glacier.

rags2riches 1d ago

It's not just the fact that the area was covered by ice. The local geology is also a factor.

Glacial erratics are everywhere in Scandinavia, which also obviously was covered by the ice. Small ones, like in the article, are scattered all over. Large ones weigh thousands of tons and may often be mistaken for bedrock.

I suspect there are other areas in North America where that's also true.

quickthrowman 19h ago

There are no mountains in Ontario or Saskatchewan and that is where the glaciers came from, there’s only the exposed bedrock of the Canadian Shield.

kristianp 1d ago

Glacial erratic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacial_erratic

Yizahi 1d ago

Medium-rare I would guess

fuzzfactor 1d ago

Well-done, I must say.

hoppyhoppy2 1d ago

Dunno, but I haven't ever come across one on my property.

tptacek 1d ago

Not from the look of it.

PyWoody 1d ago

If you're ever in the area of Madison, NH and have absolutely nothing else to do, the Madison Boulder is kinda neat. [0] It's a little bigger at about 5k tons.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Boulder

stutstev 1d ago

With New Hampshire mentioned, I must make mention of one glorious boulder that sits alongside Rumney's Quincy Road[0]. This is worth checking out if you're visiting the Plymouth area. Street View doesn't do it justice.

[0] https://maps.app.goo.gl/L4EcqopjLqvX9HQMA

PyWoody 1d ago

If we're talking roadside boulders, chicken farmer is worth a mention. [0]

[0] https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2017-11-03/you-asked-we-answere...

codethief 1d ago

> It weighs upwards of 5,000 short tons (4,500,000 kg).

TIL there's something called a short ton.

defrost 1d ago

If you're in the USofA it's the same 2,000 (US) pound ton you've always known.

For those of us elsewhere on the globe it's that non metric weight we call either a short ton or a US ton.

The OG ton, also known as the imperial ton or British ton is some 2,240 avoirdupois pounds that's been "standardised" (plus minus some obscure fuzzing) for some 700 years or so.

lukeify 1d ago

O’Hareball!

toddmorey 1d ago

“I am going to show you where on earth in the future we will find the biggest rock: Space.”

https://youtu.be/aO0TUI9r-So?si=7fNwDvf86GpVFxDR

huxley 1d ago

“A large boulder the size of a small boulder"

https://time.com/5772944/large-small-boulder/

entrope 1d ago

I was going to suggest something in that vein, perhaps "a giant boulder the size of a large boulder" to distinguish it from its Coloradan cousin.

mindslight 2d ago

There's something about finding huge rocks in the ground while digging that makes you just want to take them out and like, use them for something? The last one I found I had to make myself leave it there (well I moved it over a foot so a pipe didn't have to go around it). Like no, it has sat here for thousands of years just fine, it can keep sitting. Glad to hear it applies to 50 ton ones, as well.

acomjean 2d ago

In New England they made stone walls out of them. Of course most where smallish

https://www.outdoors.org/resources/amc-outdoors/history/hist...

In “original” England they did as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_stone

mindslight 1d ago

Oh sure, I'm definitely familiar with those. The weird ones are in forests, a reminder that an area used to be clear and then was left to grow back.

The walls of stones were the result of collecting stones that were near the surface from what I understand (maybe plow depth). I was talking more like bigger stones that were buried several feet under the ground that could just stay where they are (when you fill in the hole), but for a compulsion to treat them as things.

acomjean 2d ago

In New England they made stone walls out of them.

In “original” England they did as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_stone

fortran77 1d ago

I thought a 50 ton boulder would be bigger!

karlkloss 2d ago

Rocky McRockface

wffurr 1d ago

Glad they included a video of moving it. 50 tons is close to the limit of a typical boom crane.

whycome 1d ago

When Toronto had to name their team, I’m sure that the success of Jurassic Park helped the finalist (Raptors) win. I’m surprised “Rocky” didn’t make a finalist here (via Project Hail Mary).

Maybe that’s too Philadelphia.

O’Hare “Rocky” Dolomite

markstos 1d ago

O'Bollard.

mikewarot 2d ago

Tangent time: I've got a smaller one in my yard, and I've got a set of feathers and wedges to avoid having to dig it all up at once. Here's a video of someone using feathers and wedges to split granite.

https://youtu.be/s7_z-SGxUAs?si=vUKYBWYvG7nncszd&t=924

JoeAltmaier 1d ago

Pictures or it didn't happen?

dbcurtis 1d ago

Years ago, a company that I worked for had a huge boulder in the parking lot area that had simply been built around. At some point, facilities decided they were going to remove the boulder. Employees printed up some tee shirts that said "Save the BFR". Because, you know, it was a big rock.

jsd1982 1d ago

The Boulder. No Avatar references yet?

isolay 22h ago

Bouldy O’Bouldface.

nyc_data_geek 1d ago

Rocky McRockFace

MadrasTh0rn 1d ago

CHIrock or CHI (shy) stone

MBCook 1d ago

Oooh. “CHI and the Family Stone” is perfect.

pvaldes 1d ago

Stonehangar, of course

shmilia 1d ago

Bean

mrlonglong 1d ago

Bouldery McBoulderface.

lifeisstillgood 1d ago

“Deep Crust” surely?

ashton314 1d ago

Peewee Pebblestone

wewewedxfgdf 1d ago

Big Boy Boulder

AmazingEveryDay 1d ago

What means "prehistoric boulder", are not essentially all boulders prehistoric? I just don't know what a historic boulder would even mean. Something in Raiders of the Lost Ark?

rags2riches 1d ago

This boulder was broken off and shaped by the ice thousands of years ago. New rocks fall off mountains all the time.

wewewedxfgdf 1d ago

Biggie.

futuresoonpast 1d ago

Rocky, obvs.

pfdietz 1d ago

Crystal

contingencies 1d ago

As an Australian aware of Chicago's Irish heritage and the implied weight balancing our antipodean clime, I'd suggest "Tip O'Dea".

PS. If visiting Chicago check out the Lincoln Park Conservatory, an amazing historic plant collection with one of the world's best ferneries, very close to downtown. https://www.lincolnparkconservancy.org/projects/conservatory...

powerbroker 2d ago

There is another rock sitting alongside a chief artery about 25 miles NW just beyond Schaumburg. Silly to give these things a name.

Stratoscope 2d ago

There are big rocks everywhere. But surely we can be allowed to have a little fun?

powerbroker 2d ago

OK, OK. just drag it up to Schaumburg. Put it next to the other rock. Then call it 'micro-henge'.

Stratoscope 2d ago

That works for me! Can you help me drag this 50-ton rock?

willmadden 1d ago

I nominate "Boaty McBoatface".

hal-eisen 1d ago

How is it possible that NONE of the candidate names refer to Colbert? Especially given his time with Second City.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_impact_of_The_Colbert...

tptacek 1d ago

Colbert is not a Chicago figure. You'd have to remind the median Chicagoan who knows who he is that he ever spent time here. You might just as easily name it after Bob Odenkirk.

dhosek 1d ago

And at least Odenkirk sounds like he’s from Chicago (because he is). Colbert’s time in Chicago was a short part of his life.

tptacek 1d ago

Berwyn, technically! Our neck of the woods. :)

dhosek 1d ago

He grew up in Naperville. Wikipedia says he was born in Berwyn, which I assume just means he was born at McNeal, but I don’t think he ever lived there or there’d be a bigger deal made of it by the local gentry. But that voice is hardcore inner suburbs/southwest side. I had no difficulty believing Jimmy McGill grew up in Cicero.

nonethewiser 1d ago

I dont get it. Does he have some association with large rocks or something?

Chicago O'Hare digs up 50-ton boulder under airfield, asks public for name ideas (simpleflying.com)