Re: [meteorite-list] "money from the sky"
Can't agree more with you post Martin ! Cheers Michael B, France PS: Journalism is nowadays much too often sensionalist... - Original Message - From: "Martin Altmann" To: Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 5:29 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] "money from the sky" Yah, meteorites in media, there are always only two story angles: 1. Do we all have to die? 2. It's worth a fortune! The scientific importance, what we have learned from meteorites, there you hardly will find a sentence about. Just yesterday I took a look into my encyclopedia from 1957, the most popular one of it's time, found in many bookshelves -there I read about the age of the Earth: estimated 3 billion years... Well, people would be probably disappointed, if they could read, how few tons of meteorites do exist so far, cause then the prices mentioned would seem quite implausibly low to them. Or to say it else. Would it be a sensational story if it would be reported, that someone paid 10.000$ for a diamond of 0.4grams? I guess not. Hmmm, greed and treasures, that sells. Uh if I think about deserts, hot and cold, and other falls, will we ever read, that meteorite collectors and hunters save millions and millions of tax-dollars in offering sky-rocks at the today's price-level to the public authorities & research? I doubt. Go West! Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com [mailto:meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com] Im Auftrag von Darren Garrison Gesendet: Mittwoch, 18. März 2009 17:56 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: [meteorite-list] "money from the sky" Okay, that quote shoud really help in future negotions for search rights. Good photos in the link. http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/03/17/03172009wacmete or.html Meteorite hunter: Find near Aquilla nets $10,000 Tuesday, March 17, 2009 By Ken Sury Tribune-Herald staff writer Mike Farmer has spent about a month now in West, searching for pieces of the meteor that blazed a fiery trail in the Central Texas skies and broke apart over southern Hill County and northern McLennan County last month, depositing meteorite rocks across a swath of countryside. Farmer calls the meteorites "money from the sky," noting that they are prized by collectors, universities and museums. And he should know. Farmer has made a living chasing meteorites. What he hasn't been able to find, sometimes he'll buy from somebody who did find one and is willing to sell. Farmer now possesses the second-biggest rock that he is aware of from the West meteorite. It's a 4-pound piece of chondrite, and while it is the most common form of meteorite that falls to Earth, Farmer paid a man more than $10,000 for that hunk of space rock. The Tucson, Ariz., resident won't disclose the actual sale price, but the man he bought the meteorite from was equally secretive, meeting Farmer at a gas station where the meteorite hunter peeled off $100 bill after $100 bill to meet the man's asking price. "He can probably buy a new subcompact car," Farmer said. The man would tell Farmer only that he found the meteorite in the Aquilla area on the day of the fall, Feb. 15. Those are the types of meteorites collectors love, Farmer explained, because they are in pristine condition and haven't been subjected to any weathering by the elements. Though the iron content is low in such a stone meteorite, rainfall will cause oxidation, or rust, to form on the exterior, he said. Farmer said he has seen - and would love to buy - a slightly larger meteorite from the West fall. But that individual is holding out for more money than Farmer is willing to pay, he said. "That's fine, but what he has to remember is that this is supply and demand," Farmer said. "While it may be worth more than $10,000 now, if someone finds bigger pieces later . . . and there will be more pieces found, the market could collapse, and he's left holding the bag." Prices for meteorites That larger meteorite is only about 200 grams heavier than the rock Farmer bought, but for meteorite buyers willing to pay $5 to $10 per gram, that's an extra $1,000 to $2,000. Some West residents received e-mails from across the country offering to pay that price, or higher, if they found a meteorite and were willing to sell. One e-mail came from a man who identified himself as a clergyman from the Midwest who didn't want to take the time come down and hunt himself but was willing to pay a hefty sum for a meteorite. Farmer is far from the only meteorite hunter who descended on the West area, though the numbers have dwindled since the days right after the fall. Farmer estimates there are still five or six fellow meteorite hunters whom he knows in the area. He estimates that they have collected between 200 and 250 of the chondrite
Re: [meteorite-list] "money from the sky"
> Just yesterday I took a look into my encyclopedia from 1957, the most > popular one of it's time, found in many bookshelves -there I read about > the age of the Earth: estimated 3 billion years... This has been corrected to about 4.56 billion years nowadays, as far as the accepted age of the solar system is concerned, but then again there may still be quite a few people around, who for whatever reason are inclined to think and believe quite differently, something I will not follow here... Anyway, what still amazes me after all those years of collecting: you can hold a piece of iron or rock in your hands which is that (or almost that) old, a sliced surface having been unseen and untouched before (well, apart from the saw operator, of course :-)), a pristine type-3-stone virtually unchanged for billions of yrs ever since its ingredients got together in an accretion process just on a scale of a few early millions of years, nothing but an eyeblink compared to the age of the solar system - you can even buy it for moderate prices and own it, and must not necessarily go to a museum to have a look at this stuff under thick glas. And all of this far beyond the age of the oldest touchable unchanged material on Earth which is available. That´s what makes up one of the meteorite aficionado´s dreams... Alex Berlin/Germany __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] money from the sky
Which quote? Mike Sent from my iPhone Michael On Mar 18, 2009, at 9:56 AM, Darren Garrison wrote: Okay, that quote shoud really help in future negotions for search rights. Good photos in the link. http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/03/17/03172009wacmeteor.html Meteorite hunter: Find near Aquilla nets $10,000 Tuesday, March 17, 2009 By Ken Sury Tribune-Herald staff writer Mike Farmer has spent about a month now in West, searching for pieces of the meteor that blazed a fiery trail in the Central Texas skies and broke apart over southern Hill County and northern McLennan County last month, depositing meteorite rocks across a swath of countryside. Farmer calls the meteorites “money from the sky,” noting that they are prized by collectors, universities and museums. And he should know. Farmer has made a living chasing meteorites. What he hasn’t been able to find, sometimes he’ll buy from somebody who did find one and is willing to sell. Farmer now possesses the second-biggest rock that he is aware of from the West meteorite. It’s a 4-pound piece of chondrite, and while it is the most common form of meteorite that falls to Earth, Farmer paid a man more than $10,000 for that hunk of space rock. The Tucson, Ariz., resident won’t disclose the actual sale price, but the man he bought the meteorite from was equally secretive, meeting Farmer at a gas station where the meteorite hunter peeled off $100 bill after $100 bill to meet the man’s asking price. “He can probably buy a new subcompact car,” Farmer said. The man would tell Farmer only that he found the meteorite in the Aquilla area on the day of the fall, Feb. 15. Those are the types of meteorites collectors love, Farmer explained, because they are in pristine condition and haven’t been subjected to any weathering by the elements. Though the iron content is low in such a stone meteorite, rainfall will cause oxidation, or rust, to form on the exterior, he said. Farmer said he has seen — and would love to buy — a slightly larger meteorite from the West fall. But that individual is holding out for more money than Farmer is willing to pay, he said. “That’s fine, but what he has to remember is that this is supply and demand,” Farmer said. “While it may be worth more than $10,000 now, if someone finds bigger pieces later . . . and there will be more pieces found, the market could collapse, and he’s left holding the bag.” Prices for meteorites That larger meteorite is only about 200 grams heavier than the rock Farmer bought, but for meteorite buyers willing to pay $5 to $10 per gram, that’s an extra $1,000 to $2,000. Some West residents received e-mails from across the country offering to pay that price, or higher, if they found a meteorite and were willing to sell. One e-mail came from a man who identified himself as a clergyman from the Midwest who didn’t want to take the time come down and hunt himself but was willing to pay a hefty sum for a meteorite. Farmer is far from the only meteorite hunter who descended on the West area, though the numbers have dwindled since the days right after the fall. Farmer estimates there are still five or six fellow meteorite hunters whom he knows in the area. He estimates that they have collected between 200 and 250 of the chondrite meteorites, ranging from pea size to the one he purchased. Using Doppler radar images for the first time, Farmer said they did a pretty precise job of pinpointing the strewn field, the area in which the meteorites fell. As the meteor broke apart, the Doppler radar picked up the falling pieces, much like it would measure precipitation, Farmer explained. The smallest pieces are generally around Penelope and Birome in southern Hill County, while larger rocks, which travel farther because of their mass, can be found generally on a path westward toward Aquilla. Most of the meteorites have been found east of Interstate 35; Farmer has collected two rocks west of I-35, not counting the one he bought. Farmer said he understands farmers and ranchers being reluctant to allow strangers on their land to hunt for meteorites, especially at this critical planting season, but he doesn’t quite get why they won’t search the land themselves, particularly because of the possible payoff. “I had one farmer telling me how tough it is; that he spent $5,000 this year on fertilizer,” Farmer said. “I try to point out that if you find a meteorite like this, you’ve got two years of fertilizer paid for.” Enterprising landowners Some landowners have been enterprising, Farmer said. He knows of at least one West-area resident who was charging meteorite hunters to scour his land, he said, and then they paid him for the stones they found. But for those hunters, it was worth it, Farmer said. “In all reality, I believe the farmers will find (most of the meteorites),” Farmer said, adding that depending on the area, one could find 10 to 20 small rocks per acre, while for larger pieces, it mig
Re: [meteorite-list] "money from the sky"
Yah, meteorites in media, there are always only two story angles: 1. Do we all have to die? 2. It's worth a fortune! The scientific importance, what we have learned from meteorites, there you hardly will find a sentence about. Just yesterday I took a look into my encyclopedia from 1957, the most popular one of it's time, found in many bookshelves -there I read about the age of the Earth: estimated 3 billion years... Well, people would be probably disappointed, if they could read, how few tons of meteorites do exist so far, cause then the prices mentioned would seem quite implausibly low to them. Or to say it else. Would it be a sensational story if it would be reported, that someone paid 10.000$ for a diamond of 0.4grams? I guess not. Hmmm, greed and treasures, that sells. Uh if I think about deserts, hot and cold, and other falls, will we ever read, that meteorite collectors and hunters save millions and millions of tax-dollars in offering sky-rocks at the today's price-level to the public authorities & research? I doubt. Go West! Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com [mailto:meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com] Im Auftrag von Darren Garrison Gesendet: Mittwoch, 18. März 2009 17:56 An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: [meteorite-list] money from the sky Okay, that quote shoud really help in future negotions for search rights. Good photos in the link. http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/03/17/03172009wacmete or.html Meteorite hunter: Find near Aquilla nets $10,000 Tuesday, March 17, 2009 By Ken Sury Tribune-Herald staff writer Mike Farmer has spent about a month now in West, searching for pieces of the meteor that blazed a fiery trail in the Central Texas skies and broke apart over southern Hill County and northern McLennan County last month, depositing meteorite rocks across a swath of countryside. Farmer calls the meteorites money from the sky, noting that they are prized by collectors, universities and museums. And he should know. Farmer has made a living chasing meteorites. What he hasnt been able to find, sometimes hell buy from somebody who did find one and is willing to sell. Farmer now possesses the second-biggest rock that he is aware of from the West meteorite. Its a 4-pound piece of chondrite, and while it is the most common form of meteorite that falls to Earth, Farmer paid a man more than $10,000 for that hunk of space rock. The Tucson, Ariz., resident wont disclose the actual sale price, but the man he bought the meteorite from was equally secretive, meeting Farmer at a gas station where the meteorite hunter peeled off $100 bill after $100 bill to meet the mans asking price. He can probably buy a new subcompact car, Farmer said. The man would tell Farmer only that he found the meteorite in the Aquilla area on the day of the fall, Feb. 15. Those are the types of meteorites collectors love, Farmer explained, because they are in pristine condition and havent been subjected to any weathering by the elements. Though the iron content is low in such a stone meteorite, rainfall will cause oxidation, or rust, to form on the exterior, he said. Farmer said he has seen and would love to buy a slightly larger meteorite from the West fall. But that individual is holding out for more money than Farmer is willing to pay, he said. Thats fine, but what he has to remember is that this is supply and demand, Farmer said. While it may be worth more than $10,000 now, if someone finds bigger pieces later . . . and there will be more pieces found, the market could collapse, and hes left holding the bag. Prices for meteorites That larger meteorite is only about 200 grams heavier than the rock Farmer bought, but for meteorite buyers willing to pay $5 to $10 per gram, thats an extra $1,000 to $2,000. Some West residents received e-mails from across the country offering to pay that price, or higher, if they found a meteorite and were willing to sell. One e-mail came from a man who identified himself as a clergyman from the Midwest who didnt want to take the time come down and hunt himself but was willing to pay a hefty sum for a meteorite. Farmer is far from the only meteorite hunter who descended on the West area, though the numbers have dwindled since the days right after the fall. Farmer estimates there are still five or six fellow meteorite hunters whom he knows in the area. He estimates that they have collected between 200 and 250 of the chondrite meteorites, ranging from pea size to the one he purchased. Using Doppler radar images for the first time, Farmer said they did a pretty precise job of pinpointing the strewn field, the area in which the meteorites fell. As the meteor broke apart, the Doppler radar picked up the falling pieces, much like it would measure precipitation, Farmer explained. The smallest pieces are generally around Penelope and Birome in southern
