Hi Bob,
Good question,
It was based mainly on rumors, rust color and size. The shifting of the
channel after the object slid down the bank also provided some
encouragement. You may be looking at the wrong object in the image. There
is a smaller dark spot just below the pin-mark which is not the object in
question. It is the larger object further down which is 20 feet plus
across. The other small objects are bushes, which also cast shadows making
them look similar although much smaller.
It is too bad that we cannot get military quality satellite images of this
object so we have to look at it in the field in person. It could be a giant
piece of scrap iron, part of an airplane wreck or something else. It is
simply too out of place to immediately explain. The simplest answer is
usually the correct answer.
In any case, it remains enough of a mystery for us to take the trip.
Adam
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob King" <[email protected]>
To: "Raremeteorites" <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, May 03, 2015 11:46 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Up and Coming Hunt - Possible Giant Iron
Meteorite Located
Hi Adam,
Nice work on a possible new find, but I have to ask. How did you
distinguish this object from so many similar looking dark spots in the
photo. It looks nearly identical to those. Was it on the basis of the
change in wash flow?
Thanks,
Bob
On Sun, May 3, 2015 at 1:34 PM, Raremeteorites via Meteorite-list
<[email protected]> wrote:
The new Team LunarRock has been busy the last several months developing
leads so that we can have a successful meteorite and mineral hunt next
month. Our goal was to locate hard to access, virgin areas in hopes of
finding the first North American Lunar meteorite. In the process, we
came
across information of a possible giant iron meteorite on private land.
Our
research allowed us to zero in on the barely accessible area. It was
like
searching for a needle in a haystack but we think we have located it from
satellite.
We examined historical satellite images and the object appears to have
shifted five feet to the left over the last 20 years leaving a void in
the
dirt bank and re-shifting the position of an intermittent wash. We feel
the
object has to be heavy in order to rechannel the large wash. It is a
real
object that sits high enough above the ground in order to cast a shadow.
It
is rust colored with a green tint. The green tint can also be seen in
the
bank were it may have left a weathering halo. Nickel is known to turn
green
with weathering so we take this as a positive indication. The image
below,
stripped of its actual metadata is the best resolution we could come up
with
of the unknown but promising looking object.
Not the scale bar. This may be larger than Hoba! If it turns out to be
something else, at least we have several dozen other leads to follow.
http://themeteoritesite.com/adam/Meteorite-a.jpg
Another imaged zoomed out slightly for another perspective:
http://themeteoritesite.com/adam/Meteorite-b.jpg
Zoomed out even more to show there is nothing close to this size in the
immediate area. In other words, there was no glaciations in the area and
this object did not come from a mountain range:
http://themeteoritesite.com/adam/Meteorite-c.jpg
We will get ground images of whatever it is when we are able to access it
with our freshly prepared off-road vehicles. We still have a few bugs to
work out with our equipment before being able to reach this object. I
was
finally able to access a dry lake bed yesterday that I have been trying
to
get to for several years that we thought was only accessible by
helicopter.
I still have two issues to deal with that I thought were resolved;
nothing
like a real field test to expose any weaknesses. My main NAV computer
lost
satellite acquisition due to cloud cover so I need to install a booster.
The
backup system worked although it only provided limited data. Another
problem with both SPL OPS Rubicons that arouse is a shifting issue. The
adaptive computer has learned bad driving habits and doesn't like to stay
in
overdrive on inclines automatically at 80 miles an hour on pavement even
though the powerful engines don't need to be downshifted.
No matter what, we are committed to the hunt after postponing it to early
June.
It will be good to have boots on the ground again.
Happy Hunting,
Adam
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