Best ad for a meteorite - ever!
Mendy Ouzillou >________________________________ > From: Jack Schrader <[email protected]> >To: "[email protected]" ><[email protected]> >Sent: Saturday, November 30, 2013 12:39 PM >Subject: [meteorite-list] Ad: The history of Ban Cho Lae > > > >The discovery and recovery history of the Ban Cho Lae, Thailand meteorite > > On October 29, 2006, I purchased a 3580 gram stony meteorite from Rev. >Paul Dodge, a retired Baptist missionary who, with his wife Winnie (a nurse), >had served in Thailand in the 1970’s working with the Karen and Lahu people in >the northern part of that country. The decision to purchase this supposed >meteorite was based solely on photos that I had of the stone in question. >The meteorite had not been classified but it was obvious that it was a >meteorite from the photos of the stone. (After I purchased the stone I found >out that Rev. Dodge subsequently donated a generous portion of the purchase >price of the stone to the mission in Chiang Mai where he had served). The >stone had obvious signs of having been displayed in the home of Rev. Dodge for >many years. When I received it, the upper part of the stone was covered with >the years of accumulated layers of old dust and oily grime and was spattered >with white house paint presumably >from periodically repainting the living room over the span of the 31 years >that the stone sat on display in the Dodge home. The more naturally even side >of the stone had been thickly coated with a resin or lacquer (?) in order to >provide a flat stable base on which to rest and to prevent scratching of the >surface it was displayed upon. The original cut surface was left as is and >oriented vertically to show the interior of the stone. Upon receiving the >stone, I sent a type sample to Dr. Albert Jambon at the University of Paris >and the sample was determined to be an H5 S0 W1 meteorite. Clay/fine brown >mud samples still found embedded in the fusion crust and recesses of the stone >were also found to be typical of that part of northern Thailand. > The stone was discovered by two Lahu tribesmen while cutting wild rattan >in the forest near the village of Ban Cho Lae in northern Thailand in February >of 1975. The Lahu tribesmen who found the stone transported it 20 miles to >the south and showed it to their missionary, Rev. Paul Dodge in the city of >Chiang Mai to see if it was worth any money. Paul Dodge purchased the stone >from the two Lahu tribesmen and took it to the Geology Department at the >University of Chiang Mai and showed to Acharn Suchit (Acharn is the Thai word >for Professor) who was the Professor of Geology at the time. When Acharn >Suchit saw the stone, he asked for permission to remove a portion of the stone >for testing and subsequent donation to the university geology department and >Paul Dodge agreed to do so. After the stone was cut and tested in the geology >department lab, Acharn Suchit told Paul that the stone contained a lot of >metal and alteration minerals and was >therefore most likely a meteorite. > In order to confirm without question the authenticity of this meteorite >and its terrestrial history, I then contacted Paul Dodge’s son, Brooks Dodge >who at that time was residing in the city of Chiang Mai and was continuing his >father’s missionary work. After contacting Brooks in Chiang Mai he agreed to >research this further on my behalf and he then traveled to the University of >Chiang Mai and discovered that Acharn Suchit had since retired but he was able >to talk with the current Professor of Geology, Prof. Pisanu Wongpornchai. >Prof. Wongpornchai was very helpful and he and Brooks then travelled to the >home of the retired professor Acharn Suchit and questioned him about the >stone. From photographs of the stone now in my possession, Acharn Suchit was >able to confirm that the events surrounding the stone brought to him by Paul >Dodge were correct as stated and that the stone was the same that Paul Dodge >brought to him that day in 1975. > Ban Cho Lae is one of only four meteorites from Thailand and as such is >quite rare. In order to make some of this material available to collectors, >I had Mr. Marlin Cilz of the Montana Meteorite Laboratory remove a modest >portion of the main mass which I hold. I have little of this rare meteorite >available to collectors. > >http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=161163031160&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT#ht_106wt_880 > >Jack Schrader >______________________________________________ > >Visit the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com >Meteorite-list mailing list >[email protected] >http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > > > ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
