I'm glad I never bothered to follow this thread.
Bill
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Sun, 18 Feb 2007 09:35:43 -0800 (PST)
To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
Subject: [meteorite-list] venusmeteorite - Space slag, Boggy creek, Alien
gems, Frass & marble traders. What a circus
I would like to thank those people that responded to my questions. I am
thinking of retiring from the list for short time to finish my research and
have the impact crater registered. I need to devote my time elsewhere.To the
people that have provided encouragement, support and would like further
updates, Email me at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> and I'll send them off-list.
I will keep my promise of payment for identical photos of my samples, but I
am now not actively soliciting them. I am growing increasingly frustrated
and need to regain my composure. So far, nobody has ever answered my basic
question "What definitive testing will prove space weathering".
Recently, a meteorite dealer told me that pictures of my samples were
sandstone covered by desert varnish even after I told him that the rocks
were basaltic and geologists at the National University in Peru have never
seen rocks like this. I've seen desert varnish many many times on my
searches for fossilized Megalodon teeth in the Peruvian desert. Peruvian
geologists are highly trained and well respected.
This and other insults from meteorite dealers made me realize that alot of
people are just marble traders and have little scientific knowledge or
formal training. Some found meteorite trading profitable and others it's
just an off-shoot of their main business of minerals and fossils. Some took
their weekend excursions into strewn fields armed with metal detectors and
found some meteorites to sell on e-bay. I mean no disrespect to any
collectors with a genuine interest and appreciation of meteorites. I find
them fascinating.
You can sense my frustration. I agree that most know their marbles. Hey, I
have a steelie, wanna trade. Yo, I have a peral-lie for sale. Wanna see a
picture of a shooter? ooooooohhh I've got a cat's eye. So, along comes a guy
with something a bit unusual. Hey, I found something and I'll call it a
spark-lie for now. It looks like your marbles, rolls like your marbles, but
I can't prove that it's a marble. Can you help me find out what it is? I'll
even give you one for free. And alot of the marble players say "sorry you
can't play in our game with your unknown marbles and we're too busy buying
and trading to help you". Buzz off.
There has been speculation resulting from artificial ablation studies on
terrestrial rocks that some meteorites may have a clear or transparent
fusion crust. Hey, we now have a clear-rie! What marble dealer would
recognize this as a marble?
You know, I even offered to send (post-paid) a free sample to some dealers
and never received a reply. I've read enough, and I'm done with dealers.
Dealers reporting stolen meteorites then selling the "missing" meteorites to
absentee bidders. The eBay scams, alien gemstones, space slag, dishonest
dealers, and people looking only to profit has tainted my view somewhat of
the people involved in the meteorite field. Some of you might recall the
story of a well-known meteorite dealer that was accused of stealing a very
valuable meteorite (considered to be a national treasure) from a museum in
Brazil. He was apprehended at the airport with the meteorite in his
luggage...
Other people have e-mailed me and said my website www.venusmeteorite.com
<http://www.venusmeteorite.com/> was very nice. IT IS NOT MY WEBSITE!!! and
I never claimed my samples were from Venus. I repeat, my samples are
identical to the ones found on venusmeteorite.com. That's all. I don't have
a website. What a circus.
I realized that the people that I should be talking to are volcanologists
(neck-deep in lava, so to speak). They can give me a real expert opinion on
basaltic rocks. So I am now taking the opposite approach. If volcanologists
have never seen rocks like this and geologists have never seen rocks like
this, then... guess what? If it can't be found on Earth then ...
The response I've received from the people in the field of volcanology has
been fantastic. They've requested samples, and will make 40 micron slices.
They will be sending samples to other universities and another to friends at
the Smithsonian Institution for further analysis and expert opinion. This is
the type of response I was hoping from the meteorite community but never
received. I received a great deal of ridicule. The exception are the few
scientists that helped answer some of my questions. To them, my thanks and
appreciation.
As of this moment, only a few samples are know to exist, the author of
venusmeteorite.com and myself thus making them even more rare than
Martian meteorites. Score 34 for the Martians and approximately 18 for the
_______? You fill in the blank. (Venusians, Mercurians, nut-bags, idiots,
Space slaggers, whatever...)
My wife suggested that I auction one to help with our costs. Let me
reiterate, I am not in this to make money, folks. I will be incuring
significant costs for very expensive private testing when I return to the
United States.
If and only if the samples prove to be meteoritic, then I'll put one of my
samples up for auction to help pay for excavation of the main impact
crater. If I decide to auction, it will be a private auction house and
not Ebay. Only after all testing has been completed will I then decide
whether or not to submit one to auction.
My wife can be very convincing. With reluctance, I agreed with her but only
one will auctioned and bids will not be accepted from any dealer or dealer
proxy. I don't know if it's legally possible but I would also to request
assurances that the auctioned stone will not be cut. I'll supply
additional cut slices along with the main stone. The winning bidder will be
entitled to everything relating to the main fall, including a percentage
(20%) ownership of the crater. They will have copies of everything
including: all test results, all written opinions, eyewitness accounts,
videos, pictures, police reports, seismic data, all e-mails, expedition
reports, newspaper coverage, statements, university and military reports,
and a personal guided expedition to the actual crater where they can hunt
and keep anything they find.
And finally, the funds from the winning bidder will be held in third party
escrow, until the after the crater studies are completed because I want to
assure the buyer, that what they purchased is legitimate and very rare. We
will then start excavation of the crater estimated to cost over $65,000. The
bidding will start at that price.
Anyone that can fully assist with this future auction will receive 15% of
the winning bid.
Randall
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