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

Mining for Meteorites - Part 4 of 12

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

Who buys this stuff? Worldwide there are maybe 10,000 serious private
collectors, including Jim Schwade, an Illinois radiologist who has
acquired 760 specimens since 1982. "When I found out you could actually
own something from outer space, well, that just got to me," he says. He
pursues his hobby with so much ardor - and cash - that he moves in the
same orbit as the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) and the
Smithsonian, who want the latest meteorites just as badly as he does,
and trade specimens with him like baseball cards. "We have a great
collection, but not much money to buy new things. So I barter," admits
Martin Prinz, curator of the AMNH meteorites. Hollywood and Silicon
Valley zillionaires are now trending toward flashy-looking inantelpiece
meteorites with the ultimate sales hook. "They're natural, they're
sculptural, they're decorative - and they could unlock the secrets of
the universe!" burbles David Herskowitz, director of the natural history
department for auctioneer Butterfield & Butterfield. At a 1998 New York
sale by Phillips auctioneers, a world-renowned astrophysicist was outbid
for one coveted specimen by a megabucks movie director.
And so a new, highly specialized creature has sprung up: the
professional meteorite dealer. Ten years ago there were a half-dozen in
the world. Now there are easily ten times that number, plus countless
part-timers. The biggest contingent is around Tucson, Arizona. Maybe
it's the sandy desert all around, which has yielded many old meteorites;
any terrain with little plant life or terrestrial rock to confuse
searchers is prime hunting ground. Several major observatories are
clustered here. The city, home to the annual Gem and Mineral Show - the
world's largest - has a tradition of attracting rock hounds. There is
also a heritage of small-time mineral prospecting here, so people are
used to looking for things on the ground. Maybe it helps also to be near
Meteor Crater, a huge ancient impact mark now run as a tourist
attraction, and Roswell, New Mexico, the lively cult site of an alleged
1947 UFO landing.



'nuff for tonite :-)

----------
Archives located at:
http://www.meteoritecentral.com/list_best.html

For help, FAQ's and sub. info. visit:
http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing_list.html
----------