It has only been found in Martian[4][5] and lunar meteorites,[6] where it is presumably formed from either tridymite or cristobalite – other polymorphs of quartz – as a result of heating during the atmospheric entry and impact to the Earth, at an estimated minimal pressure of 35 GPa.

It can also be produced in the laboratory by compressing cristobalite in a diamond anvil cell to pressures above 40 GPa.

The mineral is named after Friedrich Seifert (born 1941), the founder of the Bayerisches Geoinstitut at University of Bayreuth, Germany, and is officially recognized by the International Mineralogical Association.

[4][5][7] Seifertite forms micrometre-sized crystalline lamellae embedded into a glassy SiO2 matrix.

X-ray diffraction reveals that the mineral has scrutinyite (α-PbO2) type structure with an orthorhombic symmetry and Pbcn or Pb2n space group.