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Lloydminster family reaps falling star windfall
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They caught a falling star and put it in their pocket to enjoy an
out-of-this-world cash windfall.
Tara Patmore, who lives in Lloydminster on the Alberta-Saskatchewan
border, was among dozens of people who along with her husband found 21
pieces of the massive Buzzard Coulee meteor that lit up western Canadian
skies in November.
And now she’s cashing in the little rocks, some as small as her palm,
that landed in her father’s former farm by selling them to friends as
well as to strangers via the Internet on Kijiji and Craigslist.
“It’s amazing what people will pay — it’s just a rock, but they did come
from outer space,” she said.
“They are dark and black on the outside, like charcoal almost — the
inside looks like cement, with silver flakes.”
Her friend bought one for $1,800 and the ones listed on Kiij and
Craiglist are selling for anywhere from $7 a gram to $25 a gram, the
smallest being 19 g and largest weighing in at 159 g.
Profits from the meteorite fragments even bought her 17-year-old son
Kyle his truck insurance.
While they are a unique find, Patmore admits she decided to sell the
meteorites just to make a bit of money, and to share the discoveries
with others.
“If someone is going to spend thousands of dollars ... they evidently
really want it and are going to treasure them,” she said.
She has kept a couple of the meteor mementoes for herself and her aunt
is making pendants out of hers.
Her father also donated some to the University of Calgary.
SOURCE: http://www.calgarysun.com/news/alberta/2009/05/30/9626006.html
katie.schnei...@sunmedia.ca
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Regards,
Eric Wichman
Meteorites USA
http://www.meteoritesusa.com
904-236-5394
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