Paul and everyone If I had a Dollar, Pound or Euro for every meteorwrong I have had to deal over the years I could probably have comfortably retired by now. But they are actually useful, well sometimes. I was contacted by someone who thought they had found a meteorite in a stone wall on one of the Orkney Islands. Ever hopeful, I asked him to send me some photos to see if I could make some initial assessments. He very kindly did and, well you can probably guess the outcome, it clearly wasn't a meteorite but some kind of iron slag. However, I passed the images to our archaeologists who were very interested because it was perhaps evidence of early iron working from an area were none had been recorded from previously.
As they say as one door closes another one opens! Cheers Peter Davidson Curator of Minerals National Museums Collection Centre National Museums Scotland 242 West Granton Road Edinburgh EH5 1JA Phone: +44 131 247 4283 p.david...@nms.ac.uk www.nms.ac.uk -----Original Message----- From: meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com [mailto:meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Paul Sent: 07 August 2009 13:25 To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Subject: [meteorite-list] Meteoritewrongs and Fossil Footprintwrongs Dear Friends, Just as newspapers have a habit of reporting all sorts of fanciful and questionable stories about meteoritewrongs, they also have a habit of reporting stories about fossil “footprintwrongs” without really taking the time and trouble to verify their validity. The latest pseudofossil to make the news comes from British Mysterious footprint found in Hudson's Hope, Energeticcity.ca - Aug 4, 2009 http://www.energeticcity.ca/fortstjohn/news/08/04/09/mysterious-footprint-found-hudsons-hope Forgotten footstep? Prince George Citizen, August 5, 2009 http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/20090805206197/local/news/forgotten-footstep.html Did gardener find fossilized footprint? by Susan Lazaruk, The Province, August 7, 2009. http://www.theprovince.com/technology/gardener+find+fossilized+footprint/1864762/story.html http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/www.theprovince.com/technology/gardener+find+fossilized+footprint/1864762/1865689.bin Is Bigfoot's footprint preserved in stone? Calgary Herald, August 6, 2009 http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Bigfoot+footprint+preserved+stone/1864077/story.html The alleged footprint is just part of a rock that weathered and eroded faster than the material surrounding it. This resulted in a depression that vaguely looks like a footprint. It must have been a very slow news day. Paleontologists and geologists are plagued with pseudofossils just as much as people collecting and studying meteorites are plagued with meteorwrongs. Each year, I get numerous ones. However, as they say, a person has kiss a lot of frogs before they find either the prince or princess. Best Regards, Paul Heirnich ______________________________________________ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list Free Fringe music. Celebrate Homecoming at the National Museum of Scotland 8-30 August. www.nms.ac.uk/music National Museums Scotland, Scottish Charity, No. SC 011130 This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the addressee please inform the sender and delete the email from your system. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of National Museums Scotland. This message is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 and Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. No liability is accepted for any harm that may be caused to your systems or data by this message. ______________________________________________ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
