[meteorite-list] Elma Field Report Part 1

From: Adam Hupe <adamhupe_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:21:06 2004
Message-ID: <052101c34ccd$065d72a0$b4dbe60c_at_attbi.com>

Elma Meteorite Field Update Part 1.

We thought List members might be interested in a report from the field
concerning the Elma incident.

Greg and I arrived in Elma at 11:00 a.m. yesterday to find several dozen
people searching for meteorites in the shot-put area next to the Elma High
School running track. There was an unbelievable amount of news networks
covering this story, at least four major networks. We were dispatched by
the University of Washington to investigate the suspected meteorites and to
report our findings directly to them. Before we had a chance to look at
what was being found we had to locate our contact Levi, of the Daily World.
Levi found us in the crowd and put us in touch directly with the three young
men who witnessed the fireball and presumably found some material.

Picture of School:
http://www.lunarrock.com/elma/schoolsign.jpg

As soon as everybody saw us interviewing the teenagers several news teams
with their cameras ran over to where we were and asked if we were the
officials who were there to give the final word on the incident. We
explained that we would be happy to offer an opinion on the material that
was being found but we needed time to examine the hundreds of black pebbles
that were being recovered from the shot-put pit. As I looked around I saw a
familiar face in the crowd, a competitor. Thinking we may have been scooped
we asked what his opinion was. We were told he would not offer an opinion.
Knowing this competitor knows what a meteorite looks like we feared that
what was being found was not meteoritic. This left it up to us to break the
bad news to the excited crowd.

Shot Put Pit:
http://www.lunarrock.com/elma/filmcrew.jpg

We relocated to the bleachers and opened our kit to examine the stones that
were being found. We used a loop, a magnet and if needed some chemicals to
determine the hundreds of stones being pulled from the pit were terrestrial.
This is not what everybody wanted to hear and it put us in the awkward
position of announcing to the crowd and news teams that everybody was on the
wrong track. We pulled out some real meteorites and showed them to the
crowd so that they would have a better idea of what to look for. Knowing
there was the possibility of disappointment we brought some NWA meteorites
to donate to some of the crowd. That way sincere searchers were not left
empty handed and the freebies were greatly appreciated. More importantly,
it sparked an interest in meteoritics and the crowd responded by asking
dozens of questions. After they examined real meteorites some of them
dispersed to other parts of the town in search of the real thing. We told
them if they found anything of interest we were going to the "Rusty Tractor"
for lunch, then to a quarry to hunt for some fossils and then onto the
Bowling alley.

The Rusty Tractor:
http://www.lunarrock.com/elma/rustytractor.jpg

We arrived at the "Rusty Tractor" to find a large contingent decided to join
us for lunch. The locals suggested rattlesnake eggs and tractor treads for
appetizers followed by the main course, a giant yak burger. The lunch was
not half bad and we had some great conversations with the locals who told us
some interesting facts about Elma. The population of Elma is about 3,600
and that the meteor was the biggest news to hit this little town since the
great bank robbery of 1914 and the Tractor tragedy of 1929:

The Great Bank Robbery of 1914
The bank robbery of 1914 rocked the little town of Elma, Washington. $4,280
was lifted in the heist. The robbers overlooked another $7,500 in plain
site on the cashiers desk, taken from the vault just minutes before. Shots
were fired, but nobody was injured. The gang was eventually apprehended in
Seattle.

Tractor Tragedy of 1929
One stormy day, in 1929, George Mouncer, of Elma, was out on his "rusty"
tractor at the Oaksridge Golf Course when, suddenly, his tractor was struck
by lightning. George was thrown nearly 30 feet and was "out" for some time.
He had to be carried in by his cousin, Lee. Fortunately, George suffered no
ill effects from the strike, besides shock and a rather severe headache.

Rusty Tractor Menu:
http://www.lunarrock.com/elma/menu.jpg

Later into the lunch John Cornish joined us. We were surprised to see
another familiar face, which had not been seen by us since Tucson. We
talked for some time about meteorites and decided it was time to go to the
quarry and search for fossils while the rest of the town was looking for
meteorites.


To be continued see part two
Received on Thu 17 Jul 2003 09:36:34 PM PDT