[meteorite-list] The "Lost" English Meteorite

From: gle_at_bellatlantic.net <gle_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:55:41 2004
Message-ID: <3C388E7D.C7859093_at_bellatlantic.net>

ROB, This has the makings of a great detective story. I can't wait to
see how it plays out. My best wishes in your quest- GRANT ELLIOTT

FERNLEA4_at_aol.com wrote:
>
> Hi folks,
> I realise that this is a long-shot and probably a wild goose chase, but here
> goes anyway......
> During the late 70's, a large nightime fireball was witnessed by many people
> over London, England. I saw it myself and it was every bit as spectacular as
> the Peekskill fireball, only much shorter in duration......it was breaking up
> during flight with several smaller fireballs lagging behind the larger
> fragment. The next day, a science teacher at a local high school in Sutton,
> who had also seen it, gave his class a lecture on meteorites and asked for
> more eye witness accounts to be passed to him. It was also mentioned in the
> newspapers, then quickly forgotten.
> This was all a very long time ago, but it's still the best fireball I've ever
> seen and very fresh in my mind. List member Geoff Notkin lived only a few
> miles from my home back in those days, so perhaps you remember reading about
> it Geoff?
> Last year, I was chatting with a British mineral dealer who told me about a
> meteorite that he'd purchased from a finder in England ~20 years ago. At
> first, I reckoned on it being another fragment of the Barwell fall, but soon
> realised that it was something completely different. The mineral dealer had
> been approached by guy in England who had found a rock lodged in his roof
> space during recent repairs. Three or four years earlier, he and his family
> had been startled by a loud "thud" on the roof of their house during the
> night, but could not account for it afterwards.
> A corner was ground off the stone to reveal metal flake and
> chondrules......the mineral dealer bought it from the finder on the spot,
> then sold it to a collector in America.
> Although the dealer was primarily involved in selling minerals, he was also
> experienced in meteorites and swears that the stone was meteoric, fusion
> crusted and chondritic in nature. Sadly, he no longer remembers who actually
> bought the stone from him. *&^%$"_at_!!!
> Whether or not this meteorite is linked to the fireball witnessed by myself
> and many others during the late 70's is pure speculation, but there's little
> doubt that there WAS a fall onto a house in England around the same time,
> which has so far gone unrecognised. As far as I'm aware, the stone has never
> been formally classified....if it has been, it's certainly never been
> submitted to the Meteoritical Society and probably still remains in someone's
> meteorite/mineral collection in the USA.
> I've kept some of the finer details back (names, places, times, circumstances
> etc.) for purposes of authentication, in case this stone ever surfaces again
> in the future. If you think it strange how a meteorite can lodge itself
> within a roof without being noticed or cause any leaks over 3 years, there's
> good reason for that too!
> We know when and where it fell, how it impacted, and the somewhat unusual
> circumstances surrounding it's recovery, as well as the weight of the stone
> itself. If anyone feels that they may have it in their collection or knows
> who might, please feel free to fill in the blanks and let me know. There's
> also a $20K incentive on offer to the mystery owner, should he wish to sell
> it to me :-)
>
> Cheers,
> Rob Elliott.
> http://fernlea.tripod.com/forsale.html
> Fernlea Meteorites,
> The Wynd,
> Off Dickson Lane,
> Milton of Balgonie,
> Fife. KY7 6PY
> United Kingdom
> Tel: +44-(0)1592-751563
> Fax: +44-(0)1592-751991
> Email: fernlea4_at_aol.com
>
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Received on Sun 06 Jan 2002 12:50:53 PM PST