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Mining for Meteorites - Part 3 of 12

KRAJICK KEVIN (1999) Mining for Meteorites (Smithsonian, March 1999, pp.
90 -100):

Meteorite entrepreneurs first showed up in Homestead, Iowa, in 1875;
they paid farmers $2 a pound for pieces of a fresh fall there, probably
for resale to museums or curiosity collectors. But meteoritics remained
an esoteric, underfunded science for another century, until researchers
realized the rocks held basic clues to the evolution of the solar system
and of life. Many are far older than earth rocks, and may preserve
unusual mineral compositions predating the planets. It was not until
1990 that researchers located a hidden crater, straddling the Yucatan
coast and the Gulf of Mexico seafloor, thought to be crucial evidence
that a gigantic meteorite wiped out the dinosaurs and much other life
here 65 million years ago (SMITHSONIAN, April 1998). The main
successors: mammals like ourselves. The splashiest headline came in
1996, when American geologists announced they'd found fossilized traces
of life in a long-obscure Martian specimen called ALH 84001.
All this makes meteorites sexier and sexier. ALH 84001 sent the
simmering market over the edge (never mind that dozens of scientists
have since ganged up to declare the specimen does not show signs of
Martian life). There are 13 known Mars meteorites, with parts of about
half of them in private hands. In the past two years, the price of a
Martian meteorite has gone from $100 a gram to $2,500 or more, so some
owners have pulverized specimens for resale. Recently Darryl Pitt, a
prominent New York meteorite dealer, had the QVC Home Shopping Network
market his $98 Mars Collector's Cubes - Lucite cubes containing a
fiftieth of a gram of a Martian meteorite dubbed the Zagami, including a
certificate of authenticity. Even weathered old asteroid chunks retail
for at least $1 a gram. Fresh falls bring more, for they are in better
shape and have more scientific value. Don't forget accessories: after a
26-pound meteorite smashed the backside of Michelle Knapp's 1980 Chevy
Malibu in 1992, the Peekskill, New York, teenager sold the wreck for
$10,000. The car was worth $300 when it was running.

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