[meteorite-list] Re: Eagle Butte - "Dr." Schimpf and the Royal Tyrell Museum

From: Tracy Latimer <tracyl_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:54:08 2004
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.93.1020222090411.17074G-100000_at_netra.lib.state.hi.us>

That's an absolutely LOVELY letter. Short and to the point. I'd
seriously consider sending a copy to Ebay/SafeHarbor. They probably won't
do anything about it, but it would be another link in the chain of
evidence against this yoyo.

I just received my piece of the "Eagle Butte Meteorite" yesterday. By
casual inspection, it looks like a piece of slag that had formed as a
crust, then broken loose, almost rectangular and roughly the size or a
pack of matches. Along the broken edges are small crystalline structures.
I've never had the heart or enough samples of a metallic meteorite to
fracture or smack one with a hammer; if you whacked a Sikhote hard enough
to break it in one shot, would it show any type of crystal structure along
the broken edge?

Other than that, I'm pretty sure Eagle Butte (Button; I think I'm going to
call it that from now on, thanks Matteo :-) is a bust.

Tracy Latimer
--learning in the School of Hard Knocks--

On Fri, 22 Feb 2002 Sharkkb8_at_aol.com wrote:

>
> In regard to the rather astonishingly crude and unprofessional emails Matteo
> has been receiving from the self-styled member of the Board of Trustees of
> the Royal Tyrell Museum in Alberta, I sent a polite email to the Museum,
> explaining the situation in nonaccusatory terms, and asking about Dr.
> Schimpf's relationship, if any, to the institution. They have very kindly
> emailed me back, as follows. The response is not surprising, but gratifying
> to know. Hmmm, I just might have a few spare moments to write a little
> colorful email today....Matteo, what was that email address for "Dr."
> Schimpf, again?!
> (Anyone else?)
>
> Gregory
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
>
> _____
>
> Dear Mr. Wilson,
> In response to your recent email, the Royal Tyrrell Museum is not governed by
> a board of trustees. Our Cooperating Society, which is a non-profit
> organization which supports the operation of the Museum, is made up of a
> 10-member board. However, T.L. Schimpf is not one of its members - nor have
> we heard of this individual.
>
> The Royal Tyrrell Museum focuses on Alberta's palaeontological history and is
> not directly involved in the study or exhibition of meteorites.
>
> I hope this clears up any misunderstandings.
>
> Sincerely,
> Marty Eberth
> Media and Community Relations
> Royal Tyrrell Museum
> PO Box 7500 Drumheller, Alberta, Canada T0J 0Y0
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
>
> ____
>
> Dear good Museum folks,
>
> A person by the name of T.L. Schimpf has been defending the sale of an
> alleged Canadian "meteorite" on ebay, named "Eagle Butte". This meteorite
> name is not recognized by the Meteoritical Society, and potential buyers have
> been emailing this person accordingly, questioning the "meteorite's"
> authenticity. There have alledgedly been email responses from this Dr.
> Schimpf, who claims to be on your Museum's Board of Trustees, which have been
> threatening, obscene and astonishingly unprofessional.
>
> If this person is not associated with your Museum, and is merely dishonestly
> claiming to be, I think it's important that you know that someone is
> fraudulently representing you. And if this person does represent your
> Museum (and is doing such a poor job of it) and is knowingly endorsing the
> sale of a fraudulent meteorite, I would think you would want to know that,
> too.
>
> Either way, it appears your good Museum may have a problem. Those of us
> concerned are only interested in establishing the truth, so I welcome your
> comments. Thank you very much.
>
> Gregory Wilson
> I.M.C.A. #5877
> 2118 Wilshire Blvd #918
> Santa Monica, CA 90403
>
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Received on Fri 22 Feb 2002 02:12:55 PM PST