Rob:
Hello. My wife collects glass insulators, the kind that sit on old
telephone and telegraph poles. Most of the insulators started out as clear
glass. Over the years many of them, due to ultraviolet radiation exposure
have turned to colors including green, blue, yellow, purple etc. Some
dealers have apparently altered these colors with various types of
radiation, making inexpensive insulators worth more. In the association
which oversees collecting, this is considered unethical. I haven't
personally seen anyone engaged in the process, but if in fact it is true, it
seems likely to me that tektites could be altered similarly.
Also, if anyone is smashing up tektites into a powder to heat them,
they would be wise to use an air filter mask to avoid breathing dust. From
my somewhat limited experience as an amateur telescope maker I know that
getting glass to melt into a usable form is a difficult and time consuming
task. Once it is in molten form, various impurities could be introduced to
impart any number of colors. I would guess that unless the dealer of the
colored tektites is selling them at very high prices, the process in
producing them might be too costly to turn a profit.
George
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