Re: [meteorite-list] NWA 482 questions

[Michael Farmer]

Robert, that is simple, since the purchase of this meteorite, we have been hassled in public and private by a good number of people, many on the list, in the last two years!  I am simply tired of this ugly rumor raising it's head every few months. Mark posted questions, that have been answered so many times, that I am now asking him to clarify how the stone was offered to him? He had never been to Morocco, and the stone came out just a few days before I bought it. So to  me it is very funny that the stone was "offered" to everyone and his grandmother. Do you see my point? Mark was never offered the stone, no one in Morocco ever knew his name, and still dont, so that part of his post is what I called into question. I have never had a problem with Mark, but it is pretty easy to tell who he was directing that post to. Part 2.  As for the Met Bul. The matter is the same as when first reported. The meteorite was purchased by a consortium of people, the hupes had the largest investment so they got the main mass., just under half. so they wanted the Bulletin updated. I feel the new one is misleading as it says that the Hupes owned the stone, the fact is that they owned, HALF the stone, the main mass. There are 10 other owners that are not mentioned. Either way, that is just semantics that the Hupes wanted. They made the change, there is no secret or surprises there.   The fact of the whole  matter is that I bought the stone, I have the receipt from the seller as to the weight, and the several people saw the stone in Tucson before cutting, so these rumors are nothing more than that, rumors spread by jeolous people who never owed and never even saw the stone. I sincerely hope that this clarifies everything and can put an end to this garbage.    Mike Farmer ----- Original Message ---- - From: Matson, Robert To: Meteorite List Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2002 1:18 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] NWA 482 questions Mike,   I don't know what your personal beef is with Mr. Bostick and frankly don't care to know.  Clearly you are reading a lot more into his post about NWA 482 than was present in his words.  He made a statement (true or not) and asked a question.  Stripping out the extraneous information about price and meteorite type, it boiled down to this:   "...when the lunar meteorite NWA482 was being offered around morocco it was 1278 grams and not 1015 as later reported. ...what happened to the other 250 grams?"   Your name was not mentioned once, and you were accused of nothing. And yet the mere asking of the above question drove you to threaten legal action?  That is not a rational response, which is why one would have to assume there is some bad blood between you two.  The sensible response would have been, "The stone weighed 1015 grams, no more -- I weighed it myself on my own scale.  Based on the meteorite's shape, there's no way it could have once weighed 1278 grams and then lost 20% of its mass without it being obvious.  Who is saying that it once weighed 1278 grams?"   The burden of proof would then be on Mark to produce evidence, photographic or otherwise, that it ever weighed 25% more than the published TKW.   As long as we're on the subject of NWA 482, perhaps you or someone else can shed some light on the entry that appears in Meteoritical Bulletin #86:   "Northwest Africa 482, correction From the day the meteorite was purchased it belonged to Adam and Greg Hupe (Hupe) and they still hold the main mass.  The holder of the main mass listed in the Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 85 was incorrect."   The first sentence of the listing in Meteoritical Bulletin #85 for NWA 482 was, "A 1015 g stone was purchased on 2001 January 10 in Alnif, Morocco, by Michael Farmer."  The last sentence reads, "Specimens: half of the main mass is with Farmer; type specimens, 24 g, UCLA, and 18 g, UAz."   So, we're all left wondering:  who REALLY owns (or perhaps by now "owned") the main mass of NWA 482?  Just so we're clear, there are no accusations here, only questions.  Anyone reading the Meteoritical Bulletins should be just as perplexed as I.  --Rob