[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

ODESSA METEORITE HUNTER

Greetings,

I received a phone call from Nancy Pliska of Odessa, Texas this evening,
with the sad news that her husband, James Pliska, had recently died at the
age of 78. James was a long-time resident of Odessa, and one of the first
people in the United States to hunt for meteorites with metal detectors.

James held an important position with the U.S.A.F., during World War II --
he was a B-17 pilot, and such a fine one that he was not allowed into
combat. Rather, he had the difficult task of picking and testing pilot and
co-pilot teams, in order to judge which pairs of men were compatible,
before releasing them for active duty. Towards the end of the war, he was
one of the first Americans to set foot in Japan, where he assisted in
evacuating and caring for American P.O.W.s

After the war ended, James returned to Texas and purchased an army surplus
mine detector which he used to hunt for Civil War relics and other
militaria, in the dunes around Odessa and Monahans. James eventually turned
the old mine detector on the Odessa meteorite crater, from which he
excavated, traded, and sold, many irons.

He aroused the interest of Mr. White -- the owner of the White's metal
detector company -- and James' experience in field work was later drawn
upon by Mr. White to improve the efficiency and scope of the White's
detector range.

I had the privilege of spending some time with James prior to this year's
Tucson show. I visited him just with the intent of conducting an interview,
but we ended up visiting the Odessa crater together, taking photos, and
spending many hours discussing his collection of natural history speicmens,
and military artifacts.

I hope that Joel Schiff won't mind if I mention that he and I have
discussed the possibility of doing an article on James -- and his fellow
Odessa meteorite hunter James Williams (who is pictured in Mr. Norton's
"Rocks from Space") -- in an upcoming issue of "Meteorite!" If this comes
to fruition, I will do my best to paint an accurate portrait of this
gentlemany and colorful meteorite hunter.

James retained only a very few small irons in his private collection. I do
ask -- most seriously -- that over-enthusiastic collectors not pester Mrs.
Pliska about the disposition of these few remaining pieces. As most of you
well know, Odessas are widely available elsewhere on the collector's
market. An offer has already been made to Mrs. Pliska to assist in the
placing of James' small collection, and in the event that it does come onto
the market, I will make that information avaliable to the list.

Sincerely,

Geoff Notkin
Follow-Ups: