[meteorite-list] My Visit To Fernlea

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From: Donald O'Keeffe <donald.okeeffe_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:37:37 2004
Message-ID: <3A438E47.5EC0207D_at_signalhill.net>

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Hello Paul,

Not to dredge up distasteful memories but, shortly before you joined the
list, someone ( who as it turned out had a post office mix up) accused
Rob of being a fraud. The response from the list was overwhelming. It is
easy to see from your vivid description of his operation and the sheer
enjoyment of your visit why so many came so quickly to staunchly defend
him.

Welcome to the list,
Don

nctools wrote:

> Hello again.
> I hope its allright to send this message to the group but yesterday I
> saw & purchased my first ever meteorite from Rob Elliot at Fernlea.Im
> quite excited by it and wanted to tell the story about my first
> introduction to meteorites. Rob wasnt keen to have visitors so close
> to Christmas but I think he recognised the enthusiasm in my voice and
> we agreed a time for me to call on Thursday afternoon.I followed my
> map and Robs directions and when I saw the big Balgonie Castle I knew
> I had arrived at the right place.I had expected the meteorites to be
> sold from a shop but Rob operates out of his home and has converted a
> room for his meteorites.
> After introducing myself Rob took me through a maze of short corridors
> into a long lounge decorated with two christmas trees and decorations
> to a large archway at the end of the room.This was the entrance into
> the meteorite room.He pressed a few buttons on a keypad lock and then
> disarmed the burglar alarm before swinging open the door and ushered
> me in.The room was dark and noisy because there were some fan units
> operating at high speed.The cool air hit me and had a fresh smell of
> nothing in particular.Rob flicked a switch and the whole room lit up
> in stages with an increasing dazzling brightness.
> I could hardly believe my eyes.Tall glass cases filled with hundreds
> of meteorites completely covered one wall and there was another big
> glass cabinet standing in the middle of the room.The other walls had
> long tables and display cases with large rock boulders sitting on the
> green felt covering.
> Right in the middle of the room was a big metal ball that Rob said had
> been part of a Russian spacecraft which crashed to earth.He showed me
> lots of little dimples on the ball that had been caused by meteorites
> in space!
> The noisy machines in the room were for keeping the air clean and for
> adjusting the temperature and humidity to stop some of the meteorites
> from degrading he explained.
> All around me were meteorites and Rob was kind enough to answer lots
> of questions & show me some of what he described as the 'more
> interesting pieces'.I think my favourite for astoundability value was
> a large black rock weighing several pounds which contained components
> of the oldest matter in the solar system.There were several other
> meteorites on display that came from the moon and mars.These had been
> cut into segments like a slice of bread and sat on a clear plastic
> stand with a printed name label in front of them.Some of the names had
> very strange spellings and I asked how to pronounce them correctly.
> Rob said 'beats me! but if you are unsure just say it with confidence
> and no-one will be any the wiser'.
> There were hundreds of meteorites in the room and Rob gave me a story
> about each one I pointed to and explained what it was.Under one of the
> display tables were yet more meteorites in a wooden case and there
> must have been another 2 or 3 hundred meteorites placed in 6 inch
> glass fronted black boxes in that wooden box alone.Later on I also saw
> some more 'special' moon rock which he keeps under lock and key in a
> safe in another room.
> I asked Rob how much all these meteorites were worth but he just joked
> about it and didn't really give a straight answer.Security was tight
> and I spotted 3 television cameras in the room and lots of alarm
> sensors on the glass cabinets.Rob said that the outside of the house
> was protected with more cameras and 8 heat sensors that key off body
> heat of intruders.Two intruders had been caught in the grounds but
> that was years ago he said.
> I wanted to buy my first meteorite and after looking at lots and lots
> of suggestions I decided to buy a 4 gramme piece of Wold Cottage from
> England and nearly 1 gramme of mars meteorite called Zagami from
> Nigeria.I have been looking at them both with astonishment and
> wonderment ever since! Has anyone else here in the group been there to
> see his collection?Its like a museum in there and well worth
> visiting.I plan to return in the new year to see it all again and to
> go to the natural history museum as well. I hope my rambling on and on
> has not bored anyone but Iam so pleased to have seen meteorites up
> close for the first time and owning my first ones is like a dream come
> true. Thank you for listening to a happy man! Regards,
> Paul

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Hello Paul,
Not to dredge up distasteful memories but, shortly before you joined
the list, someone ( who as it turned out had a post office mix up) accused
Rob of being a fraud. The response from the list was overwhelming. It is
easy to see from your vivid description of his operation and the sheer
enjoyment of your visit why so many came so quickly to staunchly defend
him.
Welcome to the list,
 Don
nctools wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE><style></style>
Hello
again.
 I hope its allright to send this message
to the group but yesterday I saw & purchased my first ever meteorite
from Rob Elliot at Fernlea.Im quite excited by it and wanted to tell the
story about my first introduction to meteorites. Rob
wasnt keen to have visitors so close to Christmas but I think he recognised
the enthusiasm in my voice and we agreed a time for me to call on Thursday
afternoon.I followed my map and Robs directions and when I saw the big
Balgonie Castle I knew I had arrived at the right place.I had expected
the meteorites to be sold from a shop but Rob operates out of his home
and has converted a room for his meteorites.
 After introducing myself Rob took
me through a maze of short corridors into a long lounge decorated with
two christmas trees and decorations to a large archway at the end of the
room.This was the entrance into the meteorite room.He pressed a few buttons
on a keypad lock and then disarmed the burglar alarm before swinging open
the door and ushered me in.The room was dark and noisy because there were
some fan units operating at high speed.The cool air hit me and had a fresh
smell of nothing in particular.Rob flicked a switch and the whole room
lit up in stages with an increasing dazzling brightness.
 I could hardly believe my eyes.Tall
glass cases filled with hundreds of meteorites completely covered one wall
and there was another big glass cabinet standing in the middle of the room.The
other walls had long tables and display cases with large rock boulders
sitting on the green felt covering.
 Right in the middle of the room was
a big metal ball that Rob said had been part of a Russian spacecraft which
crashed to earth.He showed me lots of little dimples on the ball that had
been caused by meteorites in space!
 The noisy machines in the room were
for keeping the air clean and for adjusting the temperature and humidity
to stop some of the meteorites from degrading he explained.
 All around me were meteorites and
Rob was kind enough to answer lots of questions & show me some of what
he described as the 'more interesting pieces'.I think my favourite for
astoundability value was a large black rock weighing several pounds which
contained components of the oldest matter in the solar system.There were
several other meteorites on display that came from the moon and mars.These
had been cut into segments like a slice of bread and sat on a clear plastic
stand with a printed name label in front of them.Some of the names had
very strange spellings and I asked how to pronounce them correctly. Rob
said 'beats me! but if you are unsure just say it with confidence and no-one
will be any the wiser'.
 There were hundreds of meteorites
in the room and Rob gave me a story about each one I pointed to and explained
what it was.Under one of the display tables were yet more meteorites in
a wooden case and there must have been another 2 or 3 hundred meteorites
placed in 6 inch glass fronted black boxes in that wooden box alone.Later
on I also saw some more 'special' moon rock which he keeps under lock and
key in a safe in another room.
 I asked Rob how much all these meteorites
were worth but he just joked about it and didn't really give a straight
answer.Security was tight and I spotted 3 television cameras in the room
and lots of alarm sensors on the glass cabinets.Rob said that the outside
of the house was protected with more cameras and 8 heat sensors that key
off body heat of intruders.Two intruders had been caught in the grounds
but that was years ago he said.
 I wanted to buy my first meteorite
and after looking at lots and lots of suggestions I decided to buy a 4
gramme piece of Wold Cottage from England and nearly 1 gramme of mars meteorite
called Zagami from Nigeria.I have been looking at them both with astonishment
and wonderment ever since! Has
anyone else here in the group been there to see his collection?Its like
a museum in there and well worth visiting.I plan to return in the new year
to see it all again and to go to the natural history museum as well.
I hope my rambling on and on has not bored
anyone but Iam so pleased to have seen meteorites up close for the first
time and owning my first ones is like a dream come true.
Thank you for listening to a happy man!
Regards,
 Paul</blockquote>

</body>
</html>

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Received on Fri 22 Dec 2000 12:24:23 PM PST

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