Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
Paul wrote; I have always wondered about the case of a meteorite hitting a house or landed on a property, for which the owner was still paying off his or her mortgage. I am pretty sure that the mortgage holder does not legally own anything outright except a piece of paper. Unless they go through foreclosure procedures. I think this has been illustrated recently by cases being thrown out of court where bankers complained of owners selling off parts of the property prior to the final foreclosure date, In these cases home owners got to keep the proceeds of sales of things that normally would have stayed with the home. Things such as kitchen cabinets, sinks, etc. The court ruled that lenders are just lenders. I would like to know how state and city Gov's fit in? I seem to remember from this list that AZ. treats finds as okay as long as you have some sort of hunting or collecting permit? I think they said they allow collection of all but burial objects and arrow heads? Carl -- Carl or Debbie Esparza Meteoritemax Paul Heinrich oxytropidoce...@cox.net wrote: In http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2010-January/060468.html , Richard Kowalski wrote: I find the comments amusing. It's pretty obvious that the rock belongs to the land owner, not the doctors. I just wonder if it dawned on them themselves or if someone contracted them about this. I'm not even suggesting one of the dealers mentioned in the article contacted the owner about this, but I wouldn't be surprised if some hunter contacted them to advise them of their rights... When the fall was first reported, it struck me as being strange that the doctors should to be claiming to be the owners when they likely were only renting it. In a similar vein, I noted that a person or two, who sold Park Forest meteorites to collectors said that they found their Park Forest meteorites in the street. In such a case, the real owners of those meteorites would be the city of Park Forest. Noboby seemed to question their ownership of their meteorites at that time. In http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2010-January/060498.html , Greg Stanley about the Hodges Meteorite Strike (Sylacauga Aerolite) wrote: On December 1, 1954, the day after Ann Hodges was struck, he discovered a second fragment of the meteorite in the middle of a dirt road. McKinney was able to sell his rock to the Smithsonian for enough to purchase a small farm and a used car. Although at that time, people failed to pay any attention to him having found it in a dirt road. If this dirt road was a county road, it seems like it really belonged to the county government. If it was a private dirt raod, it would belong the landowner, whose raod the land was on. It seemed like in this case, McKinney got away with finders keepers. I have always wondered about the case of a meteorite hitting a house or landed on a property, for which the owner was still paying off his or her mortgage. In such a case, would the mortgage company have partial claim to the ownership of the meteorite and debris from the impact? Would it have a say in how the meteorite was either sold or donated and a share of the profit from any sale of it? Yours, Paul H. __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
In a message dated 1/30/2010 8:57:20 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, cdtuc...@cox.net writes: I would like to know how state and city Gov's fit in? I seem to remember from this list that AZ. treats finds as okay as long as you have some sort of hunting or collecting permit? I think they said they allow collection of all but burial objects and arrow heads? Carl I don't know about anybody else, but anything I find that has fallen out of the sky, I'm pretty sure it landed in my yard, regardless of its longitude and latitude. :O) GeoZay __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
I have a problem with collectors who think a museum is hording when it acquires a specimen for its collection. There is no intrinsic right of the public to be able to own buy and trade in every meteorite that is found. The public is well-served by museums like the Smithsonian, which use interesting objects like this for research and educational purposes, while curating them for posterity. The flip side of this is that in the US, there is no intrinsic right of government institutions to confiscate legally owned meteorites. This is also good. Clearly, the Smithsonian is attempting no such thing. As long as we're talking about ownership, I was at the site of the fall on Jan 21. At this time, the roofers were still on site, having just finished patching the roof. The only other visitors who had arrived by this time were several of my colleagues from the Smithsonian, members of the local media (TV news) and one well-known collector/dealer who had flown in from the western US on a red-eye. The collector, in front of me and the media, convinced the roofers both to give him the damaged roofing shingles with the hole, and then to go back up to the roof and retrieve for him the piece of plywood with the hole in it, from under the new shingles. I've been wondering since then, who legally owns these artifacts? The roofers had almost certainly been asked to fix the damage and cart away the debris (but obviously, I didn't see their contract). Did they, at this point, own the debris? What if there was a fragment of the meteorite embedded in the debris? (I don't think there was, but there could well be dust.) Who would own that? Jeff On 2010-01-29 2:25 AM, Richard Kowalski wrote: I've been informed privately that it was apparently the Smithsonian that contacted the owner of the land and offering payment. I didn't mean to slight any hunter or dealer by my suggestion that one contacted the land owner... I'm a firm believer that sufficient samples need to be submitted for classification and research but I have a huge problem with some researchers that feel they need to horde every milligram for no reason other than to keep it out of the collector market. -- Richard Kowalski http://fullmoonphotography.net IMCA #1081 __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list -- Dr. Jeffrey N. Grossman phone: (703) 648-6184 US Geological Survey fax: (703) 648-6383 954 National Center Reston, VA 20192, USA __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
Well, as a new person on the list, I was pretty surprised at the tone the list took for a few days after the Lorton fall... My first thought after reading some of the messages was parasite, vulture... And I nearly dropped my subscription. But I thought, well, I'm sure not all collectors are like that... Clear Skies! Elizabeth On Thu, 28 Jan 2010, Richard Kowalski wrote: I've been informed privately that it was apparently the Smithsonian that contacted the owner of the land and offering payment. I didn't mean to slight any hunter or dealer by my suggestion that one contacted the land owner... I'm a firm believer that sufficient samples need to be submitted for classification and research but I have a huge problem with some researchers that feel they need to horde every milligram for no reason other than to keep it out of the collector market. -- Richard Kowalski http://fullmoonphotography.net IMCA #1081 __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
Possession isn't nine-tenths of the law. It's nine-tenths of the problem. John Lennon -- Carl or Debbie Esparza Meteoritemax Jeff Grossman jgross...@usgs.gov wrote: I have a problem with collectors who think a museum is hording when it acquires a specimen for its collection. There is no intrinsic right of the public to be able to own buy and trade in every meteorite that is found. The public is well-served by museums like the Smithsonian, which use interesting objects like this for research and educational purposes, while curating them for posterity. The flip side of this is that in the US, there is no intrinsic right of government institutions to confiscate legally owned meteorites. This is also good. Clearly, the Smithsonian is attempting no such thing. As long as we're talking about ownership, I was at the site of the fall on Jan 21. At this time, the roofers were still on site, having just finished patching the roof. The only other visitors who had arrived by this time were several of my colleagues from the Smithsonian, members of the local media (TV news) and one well-known collector/dealer who had flown in from the western US on a red-eye. The collector, in front of me and the media, convinced the roofers both to give him the damaged roofing shingles with the hole, and then to go back up to the roof and retrieve for him the piece of plywood with the hole in it, from under the new shingles. I've been wondering since then, who legally owns these artifacts? The roofers had almost certainly been asked to fix the damage and cart away the debris (but obviously, I didn't see their contract). Did they, at this point, own the debris? What if there was a fragment of the meteorite embedded in the debris? (I don't think there was, but there could well be dust.) Who would own that? Jeff On 2010-01-29 2:25 AM, Richard Kowalski wrote: I've been informed privately that it was apparently the Smithsonian that contacted the owner of the land and offering payment. I didn't mean to slight any hunter or dealer by my suggestion that one contacted the land owner... I'm a firm believer that sufficient samples need to be submitted for classification and research but I have a huge problem with some researchers that feel they need to horde every milligram for no reason other than to keep it out of the collector market. -- Richard Kowalski http://fullmoonphotography.net IMCA #1081 __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list -- Dr. Jeffrey N. Grossman phone: (703) 648-6184 US Geological Survey fax: (703) 648-6383 954 National Center Reston, VA 20192, USA __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
Do you think the landowners would be so anxious to claim it, had the meteorite struck a patient? Just thinking, Ken On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 9:30 AM, cdtuc...@cox.net wrote: Possession isn't nine-tenths of the law. It's nine-tenths of the problem. John Lennon -- Carl or Debbie Esparza Meteoritemax __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
Strangely familiar: I think if you get 'hit' by a meteorite, then it is yours, regardless of where it falls. Greg S. http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1280 Hodges Meteorite Strike (Sylacauga Aerolite) On November 30, 1954, a meteorite crashed through the roof of a home in Sylacauga, Talladega County, striking resident Ann E. Hodges (1923-1972). She was the first person ever to have been injured by a meteorite, and the event caused a nationwide media sensation and a year-long legal battle. The meteorite, which weighs about eight and one-half pounds, is on permanent display at the Alabama Museum of Natural History at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Hodges was napping on her living-room couch at mid-day when the meteorite came through the ceiling, hit a console radio, and smashed into her hip. Awakened by the pain and noise, she thought the gas space heater had exploded. When she noticed a grapefruit-sized rock lying on the floor and a ragged hole in the roof, she assumed children were the culprits. Her mother, Ida Franklin, rushed outside and saw only a black cloud in the sky. Alabamians in and around the area saw the event from a different perspective, with many reporting that they had seen a fireball in the sky and heard a tremendous explosion that produced a white or brownish cloud. Most assumed it involved an airplane accident. A meteorite crashed through the roof of the Hodges Meteorite StrikeSylacauga Chief of Police W. D. Ashcraft and Sylacauga mayor Ed Howard responded to the call from the Hodges's residence. They had Ann Hodges examined by physician Moody Jacobs, who determined that although her hip and hand were swollen and painful, there was no serious damage. (He later checked her into the hospital for several days to spare her from all the excitement.) Ashcraft and Howard showed the rock to geologist George Swindel, who was conducting fieldwork in the area. He tentatively identified the object as a meteorite. That evening they turned the meteorite over to officers from Maxwell Field, Montgomery, who took it to Air Force intelligence authorities for analysis. Air Force specialists identified it as a meteorite and sent it to curators at the Smithsonian Institution, who, delighted with their windfall, declined to send it back to Alabama. Not until Alabama Congressman Kenneth Roberts intervened was the meteorite finally returned to the state, where it soon became the focus of a highly public legal battle. By nightfall some 200 reporters and sightseers filled the Hodges's yard, and Ann's husband, Hewlett, arriving home late, was upset by the crowd. Television, radio and newspaper excitement lasted for weeks, highlighted by a very public dispute between the Hodges and Birdie Guy, from whom the Hodges rented their home. Facing repair expenses for the damaged house, Guy was advised by her attorney that legal precedent had established that meteorites were the property of the landowner, and she sued for possession of the rock. The Hodges threatened to counter-sue for Ann's injuries, and the outraged public sided with her. Before it went to trial, cooler heads prevailed and after a modest private settlement, Guy gave up her claim on the meteorite to the Hodges. Ann Hodges was barraged by publicity and appeared in Life magazine displaying a sizable bruise on her hip. She was persuaded to go to New York to appear on Gary Moore's TV quiz show I've Got a Secret. Her life story appeared in the Sunday magazine supplement of many Rosa Hall of the Alabama Museum of Natural Hodges Meteoritenewspapers and in national magazines. Hewlett Hodges believed that the couple stood to make a fortune from the incident. He refused what he considered an inadequate offer for the meteorite from the Smithsonian Institution, claiming he had received other offers as high as $5,500. In the end, Ann Hodges, not knowing how to bargain with the media, earned at most only a few hundred dollars from the incident that had made her famous. By 1956, the bad publicity surrounding the lawsuit ended the monetary offers, and she donated the meteorite to the Alabama Museum of Natural History. Ann Hodges's physical injuries healed, but she was never able to recover emotionally from her brush with celebrity. She and Hewlett separated in 1964. They both agreed that the emotional impact and disruption caused by the meteorite were contributing factors and said they wished it had never happened. Ann Hodges's health declined and in 1972, after some years as an invalid, she died. She is buried in the cemetery behind Charity Baptist Church in Hazel Green in Madison County. Probably the only major figure in the entire Sylacauga meteorite story to claim a satisfactory ending was Julius K. McKinney, a farmer who lived near the Hodges. On December 1, 1954, the day after Ann Hodges was struck, he discovered a second fragment of the meteorite in the
Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
Really good point. But the Hodges lady that did get hit and badly injured on her hip still lost the meteorite to the landlord. -- Carl or Debbie Esparza Meteoritemax Ken Newton magellon@gmail.com wrote: Do you think the landowners would be so anxious to claim it, had the meteorite struck a patient? Just thinking, Ken On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 9:30 AM, cdtuc...@cox.net wrote: Possession isn't nine-tenths of the law. It's nine-tenths of the problem. John Lennon -- Carl or Debbie Esparza Meteoritemax __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
Thank you, Greg! I've been thinking about poor Mrs. Hodges and her landlord all afternoon. I wondered when someone would bring up Sylacauga. Interesting that neither one of them ended up with the meteorite. It's looking like that might be the case with Lorton, as well. Hopefully other stones are found. Linton back to packing for Tucson now... - Original Message - From: Greg Stanley stanleygr...@hotmail.com To: magellon@gmail.com; cdtuc...@cox.net Cc: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 5:15 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ? Strangely familiar: I think if you get 'hit' by a meteorite, then it is yours, regardless of where it falls. Greg S. http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1280 Hodges Meteorite Strike (Sylacauga Aerolite) On November 30, 1954, a meteorite crashed through the roof of a home in Sylacauga, Talladega County, striking resident Ann E. Hodges (1923-1972). She was the first person ever to have been injured by a meteorite, and the event caused a nationwide media sensation and a year-long legal battle. The meteorite, which weighs about eight and one-half pounds, is on permanent display at the Alabama Museum of Natural History at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Hodges was napping on her living-room couch at mid-day when the meteorite came through the ceiling, hit a console radio, and smashed into her hip. Awakened by the pain and noise, she thought the gas space heater had exploded. When she noticed a grapefruit-sized rock lying on the floor and a ragged hole in the roof, she assumed children were the culprits. Her mother, Ida Franklin, rushed outside and saw only a black cloud in the sky. Alabamians in and around the area saw the event from a different perspective, with many reporting that they had seen a fireball in the sky and heard a tremendous explosion that produced a white or brownish cloud. Most assumed it involved an airplane accident. A meteorite crashed through the roof of the Hodges Meteorite StrikeSylacauga Chief of Police W. D. Ashcraft and Sylacauga mayor Ed Howard responded to the call from the Hodges's residence. They had Ann Hodges examined by physician Moody Jacobs, who determined that although her hip and hand were swollen and painful, there was no serious damage. (He later checked her into the hospital for several days to spare her from all the excitement.) Ashcraft and Howard showed the rock to geologist George Swindel, who was conducting fieldwork in the area. He tentatively identified the object as a meteorite. That evening they turned the meteorite over to officers from Maxwell Field, Montgomery, who took it to Air Force intelligence authorities for analysis. Air Force specialists identified it as a meteorite and sent it to curators at the Smithsonian Institution, who, delighted with their windfall, declined to send it back to Alabama. Not until Alabama Congressman Kenneth Roberts intervened was the meteorite finally returned to the state, where it soon became the focus of a highly public legal battle. By nightfall some 200 reporters and sightseers filled the Hodges's yard, and Ann's husband, Hewlett, arriving home late, was upset by the crowd. Television, radio and newspaper excitement lasted for weeks, highlighted by a very public dispute between the Hodges and Birdie Guy, from whom the Hodges rented their home. Facing repair expenses for the damaged house, Guy was advised by her attorney that legal precedent had established that meteorites were the property of the landowner, and she sued for possession of the rock. The Hodges threatened to counter-sue for Ann's injuries, and the outraged public sided with her. Before it went to trial, cooler heads prevailed and after a modest private settlement, Guy gave up her claim on the meteorite to the Hodges. Ann Hodges was barraged by publicity and appeared in Life magazine displaying a sizable bruise on her hip. She was persuaded to go to New York to appear on Gary Moore's TV quiz show I've Got a Secret. Her life story appeared in the Sunday magazine supplement of many Rosa Hall of the Alabama Museum of Natural Hodges Meteoritenewspapers and in national magazines. Hewlett Hodges believed that the couple stood to make a fortune from the incident. He refused what he considered an inadequate offer for the meteorite from the Smithsonian Institution, claiming he had received other offers as high as $5,500. In the end, Ann Hodges, not knowing how to bargain with the media, earned at most only a few hundred dollars from the incident that had made her famous. By 1956, the bad publicity surrounding the lawsuit ended the monetary offers, and she donated the meteorite to the Alabama Museum of Natural History. Ann Hodges's physical injuries healed, but she was never able to recover emotionally from her brush with celebrity. She and Hewlett
[meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
Michael and Listers, That was a good link to the Washington post about who owns the Lortan meteorite Michael, thank you for the good read. It will be interesting in the next few days how this event will play out between the land owners and the Smithsonian. Check this link out on the law of ownership and control of meteorites. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/metsoc2001/pdf/5150.pdf Shawn Alan [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?michael cottingham mikewren at gilanet.com Thu Jan 28 23:16:12 EST 2010 Previous message: [meteorite-list] THE OLDEST METEORITE ? Next message: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ? Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/28/AR2010012804235.html Cottingham Previous message: [meteorite-list] THE OLDEST METEORITE ? Next message: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ? Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] More information about the Meteorite-list mailing list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
In http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2010-January/060468.html , Richard Kowalski wrote: I find the comments amusing. It's pretty obvious that the rock belongs to the land owner, not the doctors. I just wonder if it dawned on them themselves or if someone contracted them about this. I'm not even suggesting one of the dealers mentioned in the article contacted the owner about this, but I wouldn't be surprised if some hunter contacted them to advise them of their rights... When the fall was first reported, it struck me as being strange that the doctors should to be claiming to be the owners when they likely were only renting it. In a similar vein, I noted that a person or two, who sold Park Forest meteorites to collectors said that they found their Park Forest meteorites in the street. In such a case, the real owners of those meteorites would be the city of Park Forest. Noboby seemed to question their ownership of their meteorites at that time. In http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2010-January/060498.html , Greg Stanley about the Hodges Meteorite Strike (Sylacauga Aerolite) wrote: On December 1, 1954, the day after Ann Hodges was struck, he discovered a second fragment of the meteorite in the middle of a dirt road. McKinney was able to sell his rock to the Smithsonian for enough to purchase a small farm and a used car. Although at that time, people failed to pay any attention to him having found it in a dirt road. If this dirt road was a county road, it seems like it really belonged to the county government. If it was a private dirt raod, it would belong the landowner, whose raod the land was on. It seemed like in this case, McKinney got away with finders keepers. I have always wondered about the case of a meteorite hitting a house or landed on a property, for which the owner was still paying off his or her mortgage. In such a case, would the mortgage company have partial claim to the ownership of the meteorite and debris from the impact? Would it have a say in how the meteorite was either sold or donated and a share of the profit from any sale of it? Yours, Paul H. __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
If there is some on the nearby military base who owns those pieces? Does this land fall under the same sort of regulations as other US federally owned land? Cheers, Jeff - Original Message - From: Linton Rohr linton...@earthlink.net To: Greg Stanley stanleygr...@hotmail.com Cc: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Saturday, January 30, 2010 1:15 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ? Thank you, Greg! I've been thinking about poor Mrs. Hodges and her landlord all afternoon. I wondered when someone would bring up Sylacauga. Interesting that neither one of them ended up with the meteorite. It's looking like that might be the case with Lorton, as well. Hopefully other stones are found. Linton back to packing for Tucson now... - Original Message - From: Greg Stanley stanleygr...@hotmail.com To: magellon@gmail.com; cdtuc...@cox.net Cc: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 5:15 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ? Strangely familiar: I think if you get 'hit' by a meteorite, then it is yours, regardless of where it falls. Greg S. http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1280 Hodges Meteorite Strike (Sylacauga Aerolite) On November 30, 1954, a meteorite crashed through the roof of a home in Sylacauga, Talladega County, striking resident Ann E. Hodges (1923-1972). She was the first person ever to have been injured by a meteorite, and the event caused a nationwide media sensation and a year-long legal battle. The meteorite, which weighs about eight and one-half pounds, is on permanent display at the Alabama Museum of Natural History at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Hodges was napping on her living-room couch at mid-day when the meteorite came through the ceiling, hit a console radio, and smashed into her hip. Awakened by the pain and noise, she thought the gas space heater had exploded. When she noticed a grapefruit-sized rock lying on the floor and a ragged hole in the roof, she assumed children were the culprits. Her mother, Ida Franklin, rushed outside and saw only a black cloud in the sky. Alabamians in and around the area saw the event from a different perspective, with many reporting that they had seen a fireball in the sky and heard a tremendous explosion that produced a white or brownish cloud. Most assumed it involved an airplane accident. A meteorite crashed through the roof of the Hodges Meteorite StrikeSylacauga Chief of Police W. D. Ashcraft and Sylacauga mayor Ed Howard responded to the call from the Hodges's residence. They had Ann Hodges examined by physician Moody Jacobs, who determined that although her hip and hand were swollen and painful, there was no serious damage. (He later checked her into the hospital for several days to spare her from all the excitement.) Ashcraft and Howard showed the rock to geologist George Swindel, who was conducting fieldwork in the area. He tentatively identified the object as a meteorite. That evening they turned the meteorite over to officers from Maxwell Field, Montgomery, who took it to Air Force intelligence authorities for analysis. Air Force specialists identified it as a meteorite and sent it to curators at the Smithsonian Institution, who, delighted with their windfall, declined to send it back to Alabama. Not until Alabama Congressman Kenneth Roberts intervened was the meteorite finally returned to the state, where it soon became the focus of a highly public legal battle. By nightfall some 200 reporters and sightseers filled the Hodges's yard, and Ann's husband, Hewlett, arriving home late, was upset by the crowd. Television, radio and newspaper excitement lasted for weeks, highlighted by a very public dispute between the Hodges and Birdie Guy, from whom the Hodges rented their home. Facing repair expenses for the damaged house, Guy was advised by her attorney that legal precedent had established that meteorites were the property of the landowner, and she sued for possession of the rock. The Hodges threatened to counter-sue for Ann's injuries, and the outraged public sided with her. Before it went to trial, cooler heads prevailed and after a modest private settlement, Guy gave up her claim on the meteorite to the Hodges. Ann Hodges was barraged by publicity and appeared in Life magazine displaying a sizable bruise on her hip. She was persuaded to go to New York to appear on Gary Moore's TV quiz show I've Got a Secret. Her life story appeared in the Sunday magazine supplement of many Rosa Hall of the Alabama Museum of Natural Hodges Meteoritenewspapers and in national magazines. Hewlett Hodges believed that the couple stood to make a fortune from the incident. He refused what he considered an inadequate offer for the meteorite from the Smithsonian Institution, claiming he had received other offers as high
Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
Yep... cause it would be worth 1000 times more!!! ;-) Cheers, Jeff - Original Message - From: Ken Newton magellon@gmail.com To: cdtuc...@cox.net Cc: Meteorite-list meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Saturday, January 30, 2010 12:03 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ? Do you think the landowners would be so anxious to claim it, had the meteorite struck a patient? Just thinking, Ken On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 9:30 AM, cdtuc...@cox.net wrote: Possession isn't nine-tenths of the law. It's nine-tenths of the problem. John Lennon -- Carl or Debbie Esparza Meteoritemax __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/28/AR2010012804235.html Cottingham __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
Interesting. I find the comments amusing. It's pretty obvious that the rock belongs to the land owner, not the doctors. I just wonder if it dawned on them themselves or if someone contracted them about this. I'm not even suggesting one of the dealers mentioned in the article contacted the owner about this, but I wouldn't be surprised if some hunter contacted them to advise them of their rights... -- Richard Kowalski http://fullmoonphotography.net IMCA #1081 --- On Thu, 1/28/10, michael cottingham mikew...@gilanet.com wrote: From: michael cottingham mikew...@gilanet.com Subject: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ? To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010, 9:16 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/28/AR2010012804235.html Cottingham __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] More on the Lorton... or Lorton hears a Who ?
I've been informed privately that it was apparently the Smithsonian that contacted the owner of the land and offering payment. I didn't mean to slight any hunter or dealer by my suggestion that one contacted the land owner... I'm a firm believer that sufficient samples need to be submitted for classification and research but I have a huge problem with some researchers that feel they need to horde every milligram for no reason other than to keep it out of the collector market. -- Richard Kowalski http://fullmoonphotography.net IMCA #1081 __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
