[meteorite-list] New Bensour fall

From: Philippe Thomas <thomasmeteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:02:31 2004
Message-ID: <A713346A-3DB1-11D6-BD10-000A27921B30_at_wanadoo.fr>

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Hello Michael,

I believe that this fall is entirely in Algeria. Ben Sour (correct=20
spelling) is around 80 km to the south of Taouz.

Best wishes,

Philippe Thomas
Emails
thomasmeteorites_at_wanadoo.fr
stellardust_at_wanadoo.fr
Member of Meteoritical Society
Member of International Meteorite Collectors Association
#3859
http://www.meteoritecollectors.org
Ebay http://members.ebay.fr/aboutme/stellardust/



Le mercredi 20 mars 2002, =E0 06:02 , Michael Farmer a =E9crit :

> Hello everyone, I have just arrived home from a very hard 5 days of=20
> traveling to Africa and back. I am leaving tomorrow (Wednesday) for=20
> Tahiti for a vacation with my wife for 10 days, so I will certainly =
not=20
> have time to really answer any emails until I get home from that trip.=20=

> This will be almost around the entire planet in 3 days!
> Anyway, I just want to write a quick note about the new fall. It is=20
> spectacular! Bessey was of course wrong in every aspect, it never did=20=

> rain there, the pieces I got are ALL PRISTINE, NEVER touched by a drop=20=

> of water or you would certainly see it. He said he and Bruno "cleaned=20=

> them out" Yeah, whatever, I have 18.5 kilos of pieces, including the=20=

> main mass of 9.5 kilos! Many small individuals, from 1/10 GRAM to ~150=20=

> grams. It is finished now though! I had almost 60 people hunting in=20
> preparation for my arrival.
> The total weight seems to be in the 25 kilo range unless some people=20=

> are not reporting accurately what they have.
> =A0
> =A0=A0=A0 =A0=A0=A0 As for the fall, I interviewed several =
eyewitnesses (with a=20
> translator of course) and here is the story as told by Amhirich Omar, =
a=20
> Berber who was camping in the area.
> "Omar was out tending his camels when at about 4 in the afternoon on=20=

> Sunday February 10, 2002, he saw a light in the sky to the west. It=20
> rapidly grew very bright but was not moving (it was coming at him=20
> strait on). Then quickly the object exploded into many pieces, and=20
> passed overhead leaving a trail of dark smoke. A moment later the=20
> explosions like thunder were very loud. He thought that it was a=20
> military jet that had been shot down. He saw the pieces fall to the=20
> ground about 3 kilometers from where he was. He told his children to=20=

> guard the animals and he took his brother to go find the crashed=20
> airplane. (The area is on the disputed Morocco/Algeria border, and=20
> military is common there. No one is allowed there but military and=20
> Berbers who have rights to pass about anywhere.)
> When the arrived at the area where he saw the pieces fall, he found=20
> burned black stones everywhere, and many broken pieces. They landed in=20=

> a rocky area so many shattered when they hit the ground.
> He took some and went back to the camp. Many of the people there knew=20=

> that they were meteorites, as it is a common business in that area, so=20=

> the next day many people went to collect the stones.=A0 The meteorite=20=

> pieces were in a line of about 5 or 6 kilometers, the small stones =
were=20
> all in one large area, and the larger pieces spread out far between=20
> each one. They crossed the border into Algeria, so the smaller pieces=20=

> were in Morocco, and the larger ones in Algeria!
> At first a=A0 few pieces went to Rissani to be sold, but then there =
was=20
> little interest so the rest were kept by the Berbers.
> The fall was seen by many people in different towns, it passed north =
of=20
> Rissani from the Northwest to the Southeast.
> =A0
> The date was listed previously as 11 or 12 Feb, but it is confirmed to=20=

> be afternoon on Feb 10 as this is Sunday and that is market day in=20
> Rissani, so many Berbers had gone to the market there that day.
> =A0
> I would like to note that apparently Dean Bessy and Bruno learned of =
my=20
> arrival and started offering large sums to buy the stones (even though=20=

> Dean keeps saying that he had already cleaned it out) so that drove =
the=20
> price up on me there. Either way, I was the first one to come there =
and=20
> meet with them directly so I learned the important information. It was=20=

> a very successful trip and I am very pleased with the material .
> Alot of the stones are very small, like Pultusk and Holbrook, so we=20
> will have some nice stuff to offer when I get home from Tahiti.
> =A0
> Anyway Dean, you can get off your "farmer got the old wet ruined stone=20=

> bit when you see what I have, Ill post photos tomorrow."
> =A0
> Thanks and good night, I need some sleep!
> Mike Farmer
> Meteorite Hunter

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Hello Michael,


I believe that this fall is entirely in Algeria. Ben Sour (correct
spelling) is around 80 km to the south of Taouz.


Best wishes,


Philippe Thomas

Emails=20

=
<underline><color><param>1A1A,1A1A,FFFF</param>thomasmeteorites_at_wanadoo.fr=
</color></underline>

=
<underline><color><param>1A1A,1A1A,FFFF</param>stellardust_at_wanadoo.fr</col=
or></underline>

Member of Meteoritical Society

Member of International Meteorite Collectors Association=20

#3859

=
<underline><color><param>1A1A,1A1A,FFFF</param>http://www.meteoritecollect=
ors.org</color></underline>

Ebay
=
<underline><color><param>1A1A,1A1A,FFFF</param>http://members.ebay.fr/abou=
tme/stellardust/</color></underline>




Le mercredi 20 mars 2002, =E0 06:02 , Michael Farmer a =E9crit :


<excerpt><fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>Hello everyone, I
have just arrived home from a very hard 5 days of traveling to Africa
and back. I am leaving tomorrow (Wednesday) for Tahiti for a vacation
with my wife for 10 days, so I will certainly not have time to really
answer any emails until I get home from that trip. This will be almost
around the entire planet in 3 days!</smaller></fontfamily>

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>Anyway, I just want to write
a quick note about the new fall. It is spectacular! Bessey was of
course wrong in every aspect, it never did rain there, the pieces I
got are ALL PRISTINE, NEVER touched by a drop of water or you would
certainly see it. He said he and Bruno "cleaned them out" Yeah,
whatever, I have 18.5 kilos of pieces, including the main mass of 9.5
kilos! Many small individuals, from 1/10 GRAM to ~150 grams. It is
finished now though! I had almost 60 people hunting in preparation for
my arrival.</smaller></fontfamily>

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>The total weight seems to be
in the 25 kilo range unless some people are not reporting accurately
what they have.</smaller></fontfamily>

=A0

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>=A0=A0=A0 =A0=A0=A0 As for the =
fall, I
interviewed several eyewitnesses (with a translator of course) and
here is the story as told by Amhirich Omar, a Berber who was camping
in the area.</smaller></fontfamily>

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>"Omar was out tending his
camels when at about 4 in the afternoon on Sunday February 10, 2002,
he saw a light in the sky to the west. It rapidly grew very bright but
was not moving (it was coming at him strait on). Then quickly the
object exploded into many pieces, and passed overhead leaving a trail
of dark smoke. A moment later the explosions like thunder were very
loud. He thought that it was a military jet that had been shot down.
He saw the pieces fall to the ground about 3 kilometers from where he
was. He told his children to guard the animals and he took his brother
to go find the crashed airplane. (The area is on the disputed
Morocco/Algeria border, and military is common there. No one is
allowed there but military and Berbers who have rights to pass about
anywhere.)</smaller></fontfamily>

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>When the arrived at the area
where he saw the pieces fall, he found burned black stones everywhere,
and many broken pieces. They landed in a rocky area so many shattered
when they hit the ground.</smaller></fontfamily>

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>He took some and went back to
the camp. Many of the people there knew that they were meteorites, as
it is a common business in that area, so the next day many people went
to collect the stones.=A0 The meteorite pieces were in a line of about 5
or 6 kilometers, the small stones were all in one large area, and the
larger pieces spread out far between each one. They crossed the border
into Algeria, so the smaller pieces were in Morocco, and the larger
ones in Algeria!</smaller></fontfamily>

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>At first a=A0 few pieces went
to Rissani to be sold, but then there was little interest so the rest
were kept by the Berbers.</smaller></fontfamily>

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>The fall was seen by many
people in different towns, it passed north of Rissani from the
Northwest to the Southeast.</smaller></fontfamily>

=A0

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>The date was listed
previously as 11 or 12 Feb, but it is confirmed to be afternoon on Feb
10 as this is Sunday and that is market day in Rissani, so many
Berbers had gone to the market there that day.</smaller></fontfamily>

=A0

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>I would like to note that
apparently Dean Bessy and Bruno learned of my arrival and started
offering large sums to buy the stones (even though Dean keeps saying
that he had already cleaned it out) so that drove the price up on me
there. Either way, I was the first one to come there and meet with
them directly so I learned the important information. It was a very
successful trip and I am very pleased with the material =
.</smaller></fontfamily>

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>Alot of the stones are very
small, like Pultusk and Holbrook, so we will have some nice stuff to
offer when I get home from Tahiti.</smaller></fontfamily>

=A0

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>Anyway Dean, you can get off
your "farmer got the old wet ruined stone bit when you see what I
have, Ill post photos tomorrow."</smaller></fontfamily>

=A0

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>Thanks and good night, I need
some sleep!</smaller></fontfamily>

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>Mike =
Farmer</smaller></fontfamily>

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller>Meteorite =
Hunter</smaller></fontfamily></excerpt>=

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Received on Fri 22 Mar 2002 11:27:07 AM PST