Dear List, I saw an untested 40 pound California meteorite offered on eBay by a non meteorite dealer and took a chance on it. I carefully checked out the story behind it, checked the seller's credentials who has a perfect rating and asked several questions in order to try and debunk the story. I could not find a single hole in the story and the suspected meteorite looked too good to walk away from. Thousands of visitors to the Ransburg Rockshop had a chance at it but felt the asking price was too high so it sat for nearly four decades undiscovered until a dealer who sells American collectibles laid eyes on it.
Usually there is a 99% chance that some untested rock offered by a non meteorite dealer on eBay will turn out to be anything but a meteorite. I learned quickly in the 1990s that purchasing untested meteorites online was a waste of time. Like a lot of newbies, I purchased many meteoritewrongs at first hoping to get a lucky strike. Well, finally one of these risks paid off. I sent the entire stone to the University of Washington last week and received the test results today, microprobe results confirmed that it is a meteorite! I was 90% sure it was a meteorite before submitting it but have been fooled before. My 10% doubt came from knowing that there was an ordinance range somewhat nearby. I have seen bomb fragments and other iron implements look very close to actual iron meteorites. I know of several dealers who have been fooled by these in the past. Fortunately, it appears to be very stable with no flaking. Underneath the weathering there is a nice black magnetite coating without any iron shale. I think this meteorite will clean up beautifully. The University of Washington set up a jig in the machine shop for a few small cuts in an unnoticeable area this Friday preserving the rest of the object for display. We will then etch one surface and measure the bandwidth. I will provide pictures later on. I guess it would be a good idea to stop at some of these out of the way rock shops and take a look. Who knows what treasure may be hidden in one of them? Take Care, ------------------------------------ Adam Hupe The Hupe Collection Team LunarRock IMCA 2185 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
