[meteorite-list] Park Forest - The Pulling of Teeth Part II

[Adam Hupe]

Continued from part I     Day three Went on a scavenger hunt for objects that were hit by the meteorite.  We returned a second time to a house that had been hit to find Mike Farmer had offered $12,000.00 for the stone.  We offered $15,000.00 and were turned down because the stone had already been promised to Mike.  We were ,however, able to purchase the outermost roof shingle with a perfect hole punched through it and a new video game still in the box with an impact crater in it. The meteorite did not penetrate the box so we think it might have been the final resting point of this house hammering stone.  We know the roof tile is in fact the very first entry point on the house because the hole is punched through the weathered portion of it indicating it was the top shingle.    We moved onto several other houses that were hit and acquired a nice specimen from the meteorite that annihilated a bedroom when it came through the roof.  We also left with a piece of the two by four it snapped.   We went searching and I found a 158 gram specimen in a very bad part of the neighborhood.  Al and I were taking a picture of it near an impact pit when we found ourselves surrounded by gang members.  We walked towards a bank with six of them following us and they backed off when they saw the bank had outdoor security cameras.   We decide to search another area and ran into four other meteorite hunters including Jim Schwade and Steve Witt.  As Al was talking to them he looked down and saw a hole in the ground.  He put his finger in the hole and felt what turned out to be a 1/2 pound individual.  We had five people observing and photographed the pit and meteorite as it was being removed.  When it came out of the ground it was covered with dirt and was already starting to oxidize.  Sorry Al, it is one of the ugliest meteorites I have ever seen but it represented the largest piece found by the Lang/Hupe team.   The final transaction of the day was a purchase/trade for a beautiful 150 gram specimen.  This was found by a very nice couple who hated to part with it.  We offered to send them a similar sized meteorite from Northwest Africa, pay $4.00 a gram, prepare a small slice from their find and give them an autographed copy of meteorite magazine.  Although every deal we made was like pulling a tooth this was the smoothest transaction made the entire time we were there because it only took one hour.  The same couple later showed up with another gorgeous specimen, excellent job!              We went back to the center of the town and heard stories that a few locals threw meteorites at their cars and other objects in order to get better prices for them.  We were offered a few supposed hammer stones but the sellers would not sign affidavits stating that they did not create the damage themselves.  One local showed us his car that had a little dent in it with a meteorite with some of the same colored paint on it.  We decided he was lying because even the smallest stones would have done way more damage.  This meteorite struck with a lot of force and virtually anything that hit the ground buried itself very deeply.  One stone penetrated all three stories of a house. We investigated one and could not find supporting physical evidence that it hit a fire hydrant.  We photographed the entire hydrant and could not find a single scuff on it.  It did have yellow paint on it like other stones we examined that hit the yellow curbs.  We heard a story that a local dealer was telling the finders that these stones had a shelf life on them and would disintegrate in a couple of weeks if not stabilized in his lab.    Day four Wasted all day trying negotiate meteorites that hit objects.  One person was asking $80,000.00 for a small stone found in a pit, big deal!  One desperate dealer plunked down $60.00 a gram not wanting to come home empty handed.  This caused some people we previously purchased from to come back and try to shake us down for more money.  We left the area after placing bids on several stones, collecting phone numbers and putting a team of locals together to acquire more.      Day five Spent the morning searching for more impact pits but was slowed down because some idiot with a metal detector left uncovered holes everywhere.  We heard that some kid broke his ankle in one of these holes left in a baseball field.  Some of the holes were over a foot across!  It looked like a SCUD missile had taken out part of the baseball field.  We felt this kind of disrespect for the neighborhood was going to cause more problems for meteorite collectors in the field.  It would not surprise me if some arrests are made shortly or some rough local in the area mops the floor with one of these disrespectful visitors.   The last dealing we had before heading to the airport was with a police officer who was asking $20.00 a gram.  We turned down the offer and were thankful to be on our way.   I will post pictures later and try to refocus on some fun we had while being there.   All the best,   Adam Hupe