Hey Everyone,
I just got home late last night from my extended trip out west. I
loaded some pictures of Scott and Terri's and my finds from the Nevada
dry lake hunt that Scott reported on.
http://s934.photobucket.com/albums/ad190/alienrockfarm/Nevada%20Dry%20Lake%20Meteorite%20Hunt%20May%202011/
It's worth a glance, some of the meteorites were very nice looking with
good crust and contraction cracks. There's a few pictures of my cat and
dog too!
I had a great time out there. Hunting with Scott and Terri is pleasure,
thanks guys!
Sincerely,
Larry Atkins
IMCA # 1941
Ebay alienrockfarm
-----Original Message-----
From: John Lutzon <[email protected]>
To: U.S. Airborne <[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected]
Sent: Mon, May 9, 2011 8:53 pm
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] 4 lake bed hunt, New Lake Bed finds
Terri, Scott & Sundance
Thank you for the outline of your trek. Sounds like everyone had a
great
trip, even the sledgehammer had a good time.
In a past life, i've had some aerobatic experiences in a composite
German
Grob, supposedly rated @ 13g's. The most i ever saw was 6-7 and then
saw
"grey". Don't go there!
With the very serious issue at hand, it was quite refreshing to hear of
your
new finds and the story behind them!!
I envy your ability to take such trips and enjoy the fever of "just one
more
hunt".
(are the wife and vehicles for rent-and, most important, can Larry
cook?)
Sorry Larry.
I hope others chime in on your story and new finds.
The best to Sundance.
John Lutzon
----- Original Message ----- From: "U.S. Airborne"
<[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, May 09, 2011 1:00 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] 4 lake bed hunt, New Lake Bed finds
Hi All, Just a quick update from out in the field. My Wife Terri & I
had
to do a biz trip to Ca to teach flying. So I made arrangements to add
a
few weeks of meteorite hunting in on the trip. We started out with
blizzard conditions at lake bed #1. Two nights the temp dipped to 15
then
17 degrees. It was snowing, then raining, then hailing on us for a
few
days, when out on the hunt. Lake bed 1 was a old strune field that we
worked over for 3 days. We recovered about 3 lbs that totaled over
600
meteorite frags. Weather was warming a bit so we moved to lake bed #
2. It
was real difficult getting on this lake bed as the snow melt was
draining
into it and it was nearly full of water. We still hunted the dry edge
for
a day but no luck. There was lots of evidence of native Americans
living
in the area . We hit the road for lake bed #3. We had made
arrangements
for one of our meteorite hunting friends to come join us at lake bed
#3.
once we arrived at the location #3 we found it difficult to find the
correct road onto the lake bed. During our hunt for the road out in
remote NV. I had a blow out on my Kawasaki teryx trailer. I had my
lance
camper on the truck , so I could not see or feel that my trailer
wheel had
blown, so by the time I stopped my tire & rim were destroyed. I had
thrown
in a spare off my aircraft trailer before leaving the airpark. When I
tried to change the tire I find that my spare rim is about 1/8th inch
larger. So we camp for the night on this remote road. The next day I
unhooked the trailer leaving Terri & Sundance to to watch things. I
gave
Terri my 9 mm to protect herself in case any yahoos gave her trouble.
My
drive to the nearest town was a wake up call. There were no tire
stores
left in this town. The last one went out of biz 3 days before I
arrived
into town. I did find a guy to help me put the rubber off my rim that
did
not fit onto the smashed up rim. I had a sledge hammer so I smashed
the
rim into better shape. Once I we got the tire on, it was still
leaking
air. I beat the edge of the rim with my sledge until it stopped
leaking
air. To make a long story short I had to drive about 150 miles on
this bad
rim & tire to the nearest big town where I got 8 ply rubber on all
tires &
two new rims. By that afternoon we were back at Lakebed #3 for the
hunt.
Larry arrived also, so the next day we hunted all day long with no
finds
and nearly got stuck in our 4x4 buggy on the wet lake bed. Then on
day two
Larry & found the strings of gravel that we were hunting for the day
before. Within a minute or two Larry found 1 nice one then 5 min
later I
found a nice complete meteorite with flow lines about 20 ft from
Larry's
find. It was barely magnetic so we looked it over real good & figured
it
was likely a LL or possibly even more rare. It was past lunch so we
headed
back to base camp for lunch & tell Terri of our finds & bring her
back
after lunch for the hunt. Once we got back from lunch & back hunting,
within about 10 min I was showing Terri the string of rocks that we
were
going to hunt real good. Just as I said she needs to find a nice big
one,
I look down & there was a nice 60 gram specimen right in front of me.
As I
was documenting my find. Terri located a real nice meteorite of her
own,
it was a very nice looking meteorite with broken fusion crust & nice
olivine. Then just after Terri did here pics & GPS location about 100
yards off Larry makes a real nice find. It was a real fresh looking
rock.
It was amazing as it totally looked new. So we were on a nice finding
run
as we hunted the long string of rocks that had been collecting in
this
area for ages. In the end on this new lake bed Terri recovered 1 nice
meteorite, Larry had 3 and I had 3. So 7 new finds at this new
location
was quite nice. After looking at our finds, it looks like 4 to
possibly 5
different meteorite falls. Once they get classified then we will know
for
sure if our guesses are correct on types. Larry had to head the to
east &
we headed west towards Ca. I was like a Alcoholic needing a other
drink .
Or like a gambler that wants that one last bet. As a meteorite
hunting
junky I needed just 1 more hunt. Just give me one more & I will be
O.K. to
leave the lovely deserts I love so much. I knew of other lake beds I
could
hunt on our way west but time was getting short. Terri was turning
into a
meteorite hunting junkie also after her big 7 lb find this last Feb
in AZ.
and then her 300 finds at the first strune field, then her last find
a few
days back really set the hook on her meteorite hunting life style. So
with
both of us now hooked on space rock hunting, we decided we had better
stop
in & hunt one more lake bed for a day. I had been to this lake bed
before
& found 6 small ones & 1 bigger one. But once we arrived we found the
lakebed had resurfaced and nothing was like it was before. The
location I
had found meteorite before was now bare of all rocks all together.
Just in
1 winter this area totally changed. I followed some ice rafted rocks
and
some other debris like old rubber tires that all got blown across the
lake
bed in super strong NE winds & likely frozen lake bed. So we followed
the
signs & hunted the western shore line where it all was blown into.
Within
15 min of hunting that shore I located a nice 30 gram meteorite that
feels
like a H to me. Terri hunted her butt off but nothing else reviled
itself
to us all morning. By noon the lakebed was a blow down & we had to
leave.
It was a total white out of dust & very difficult to drive or find
our way
off this now dusty mess. I found my tire tracks & followed them off
in the
white out. Terri was driving the Kawasaki side by side off & she
surely
ate lots of dust on her way off the lake bed. The blow down happened
very
quickly & lasted for the afternoon. We are now in Ca. teaching flying
& I
got to say I wish I was back hunting for flying rocks. On a great
note, my
wife Terri is hooked big big time now on meteorite hunting. And I got
to
say she is quite the hunter gal. Also, Larry is quite the fun &
knowing
meteorite hunter & great to hunt with. Now back to important issues
in
trying to figure out where to hunt on our way back home to WA State.
Happy
hunting to all!
When I get time I will post a link for photos.
Scott , Terri & Sundance Johnson
U.S. AirBorne Sport Aviation LLC
Eagles Nest Airpark
Sport Pilot C.F.I WSC-L WSC-S
www.usairborne.com
[email protected]
Office 509-780-0554
Cell 509-780-8377
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Larry Atkins" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 9:28 AM
To: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Real or not real.
Greg, Jim, List,
I found something while following up on a meteorite lead, a story of
a
witnessed fall by a farmer who picked up a 25 lb. rock that
supposedly
fell
right in front of him. Many years later the great grandson wanted to
get
the 'meteorite' but it was nowhere to be found.
He enlisted me to search the property where the farm once stood and
I
found this enigma in about an hour. When the great grandson saw the
rock
still setting on the ground where I found it he got really excited
about,
saying that he recognized it, I had found the 'meteorite'.
I almost hate to dredge this story up but it is relevant to the
thread.
I found the rock in 2001. Within 3 weeks of its discovery and after
passing through
the hands of several esteemed meteorite experts It was sent to the
U.S.Dept. of Energy for
Al 26 counting. It was deemed by the
U.S. D.O.E. not a meteorite due to a lack of Al 26. When I asked
what it
was they said they did not know, they were so certain it was a
meteorite that they tested it for 100 times less Al 26 than
they expected to find in a
normal meteorite but still found none. I was told that it is a rock
unlike any they had ever seen, perhaps from Disko Island (due to its
Ni
content) but not like anything they had seen from Disko Island.
Since
then, samples of it have been archived at three different
Univerities
for 'future study' should anything arise (or fall) to justify it. My
own amateur research indicates to me that it may possibly be some
sort of
impact
debris, possibly related to the KT impact. Two main reasons for this
potential conclusion are the fact that Argon dating puts it at the
right age, 75 ma. + / - 10 million, and the fact that there are some
unusual crystals, tiny Cr spinels with a peculiar feature that are
only
found in one other place on Earth, the KT boundary layer. Those
crystals, (in the KT) are pseudomorphs after spinel and the dirt
immediately adjacent to the xtals is enriched in Cr. suggesting a
possible relation. These crystals in the KT layer are thought to
have
condensed and
precipitated from the plume that shrouded the planet. There is
another
camp that thinks the xtals may be from the impactor.
To address Jim Wooddells concerns, let me say that I was told flat
out
that the reason they couldn't or wouldn't take this to the final
conclussion was simple, it could jeopardize future funding and
professional reputation. It seems that if a scientist spends a bunch
of
money and wastes a lot of time on an object that turns out to be
nothing, monies and reputation are at stake. I can understand this I
guess, but it seems like a sure way to ensure that the really odd
stuff
will not be recognized unless it's an irrefutable witnessed fall.
Of course it could all be a big coincidence, just a man made rock
that
fooled the Argon dating process. Some have scoffed at it saying it
is
nothing unusual, but the majority of experts say that it is a very
unusual rock.
This is evident when looking at a sawn surface, you ca see that it's
made
of minerals with texture, it looks nearly
identicle to D'Orbigny. In fact, several experts thought it was
an angrite at first look. When I saw D'Orbigny the first time in
ET's
room I almost fell over. Tiny crystals in the vugs sparkling in the
light like little diamonds, just like mine. On closer examination I
saw
that the crystals were not the same.
To this day I do not know it's true origin, any meteoriticists or
impact experts out there with deep pockets and nothing to lose care
to
take a stab at it?
I posted some pictures to photobucket.
http://s934.photobucket.com/albums/ad190/alienrockfarm/2001%20Find/
Ths is an extremely condensed version of the story, it's truly one
of the
most fascinating meteorwrong stories of all time.
Happy Hunting!
Sincerely,
Larry Atkins
IMCA # 1941
Ebay alienrockfarm
Sincerely,
Larry Atkins
IMCA # 1941
Ebay alienrockfarm
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Wooddell <[email protected]>
To: Meteorite List <[email protected]>
Sent: Wed, Apr 27, 2011 9:47 am
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Real or not real.
Hello Jeff,
The problem with that analogy is that visual inspection is only a
very
small part of the testing of a rock. While your post appears to
suggest the scientist could not tell, it does not indicate that any
testing was completed on it. What testing was done on it???
I could be totally wrong but sure hope that with the bazillions of
tax
dollars spent on funding research, in this day and age, I would
suggest that there better not be a rock out there the scientist can
not identify.
I really get the impression that maybe the scientists where being
polite and not attempting to burst your bubble?
Respectfully, what scientist in their right mind would turn down a
valid cold find or a new fall specimen? Does this actually happen???
Any scientists out there???
Check out my number 4 of 4 finds on yesterday's hunt at Franconia :
http://desrtsunburn.no-ip.org/DSCN0142.jpg (~5mb macro)
Kind Regards,
Jim Wooddell
http://desertsunburn.no-ip.org
---
On Wed, Apr 27, 2011 at 1:46 AM, Jeff Kuyken
<[email protected]>
wrote:
I have a stone from years ago that appears oriented but weathered.
It
was
originally thought to be a planetary but that did not seem to pan
out
clearly. The problem was that the very qualified scientist could
not
say for
sure what it was and could also not rule out other options like an
Earth
meteorite either. Further tests were just too expensive and the
budget
didn't allow for it.
The thing is that the stone was even taken along to one of the
Annual
Met
Society meetings and passed around to various people along with a
couple of
well known planetary scientists from NASA looking at it. A couple
suggested
it is likely some sort of basalt but not one person could come up
with any
idea of where or how it formed. Basically they said to just wait
and
see if
any other similar NWA's showed up over the years. I'm still
waiting!
;-)
So yes... there are definitely stones out there that stump even the
best.
Cheers,
Jeff
----- Original Message ----- From: "GREG LINDH" <[email protected]>
To: "meteorite-list" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 4:47 AM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Real or not real.
To all,
Are there any stones that have been found that are unable to be
definitively identified as a meteorite? In other words, are there
stones
(metal or stony) that the meteorite experts of the world examine
closely,
and then just say, "We just don't know"?
Greg L.
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