[meteorite-list] Shirokovsky

From: Michael Farmer <farmerm_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:22:37 2004
Message-ID: <005201c33102$c6d131c0$7831ef42_at_computer>

I agree, this reminds me of the other fake meteorites, Frass, Emerald etc
etc etc. Very long emails explaining why the item is a meteorite, disputing
the labs etc etc etc. I spent almost $20,000 in Tucson buying that material,
since it had papers from Vernadsky (FAKE PAPERS) I along with everyone else
felt it must be a cool new meteorite. Instead it is fake, and now all of my
customers want their money back, which I am giving of course, and I WANT MY
MONEY BACK, not more excuses.
If my money is not returned soon, I will be filing a lawsuit against the
dealers who sold it in Tucson, and the owners of the website in Canada
promoting the meteorite.
Capiche?
Michael Farmer
----- Original Message -----
From: "Adam Hupe" <adamhupe_at_attbi.com>
To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 9:38 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Shirokovsky


> Dear Laurie and List Members,
>
> You are asking us to believe that the investigative team assembled by the
> Nomenclature Committee is in error? This team employed some of the best
> scientists in the world including the president of the Mineralogical
> Society. Carnegie Laboratory in Washington D.C. has some of the most up
to
> date equipment in the world for testing oxygen-isotopes. Of course they
> prepared the samples properly and used Laser fluorination. They usually
> prepare several samples, not just one. They also constantly monitor the
> error on the equipment and can tell the error exactly on each run, usually
> less than 1%. The other institutions mentioned on the official Nom Com
> report regarding Shirokovsky employed scientist with decades of experience
> in the study of meteoritics.
>
> There was not a single test in all the labs involved that showed this
object
> to be a meteorite. I think it is time to start issuing refunds instead of
> pointing fingers at prestigious institutions and if by some miracle it is
> accepted as a meteorite in the future then sell some of it.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Adam
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Laurie Kallis" <lauriekallis_at_hotmail.com>
> To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 8:38 AM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Shirokovsky
>
>
> > First, let me apologize for the length of this posting.
> >
> > We have been involved with the distribution of Shirokovsky Meteorite
since
> > family made the recovery last year. Shirokovskymeteorite.com is our
> website.
> > Since questions of the meteorite's authenticity were raised we have
> > refrained from making sales and have added a clause to that effect to
our
> > webiste.
> > One of the members of the Russian group who made the recovery has
written
> in
> > response to the the questions of authenticity and the accusations. We
have
> > translated his response and pasted it into the body of this email. This
> > same article will soon be added to the website.
> >
> > Specimens, properly prepared specimens, are currently being retested in
> St.
> > Petersburg.
> >
> > Until then........
> >
> >
> > So,what on Earth is it?
> > Search Expeditions for the Ugleuralsky (Shirokovsky) Meteorite:
2000-2003
> > What distinguished the search expeditions then known as the
"Ugleuralsky"
> > meteorite expeditions from other contemporary meteoritic expeditions was
> > their official tone: the preparation under the auspices of the Russian
> > Geographical Society and the involvement of mass media. Thirty people,
not
> > counting the local volunteers and Shirokovsky Power Station staff,
> > participated in the four search expeditions that took place between 2000
> and
> > 2003.
> > First hand witnesses of the meteorite fall who still live in the
> Shirokovsky
> > village, those who came to the hole in the ice after experiencing the
> flash
> > of light and the sound effect in 1956, were thoroughly questioned. Their
> > recollections of the location of the point of impact coincided with the
> > topographic tyings to the terrain reported by the USSR Sverdlovsk
Academy
> of
> > Science expedition carried out in 1956, immediately after the fall.
> > A detailed relief map of the reservoir bottom supplied by the board of
the
> > Shirokovsky Power Station, in concordance with the opinions of
specialists
> > in ballistics, determined the extent of the search area.
> > The search proved more difficult than expected because constant removal
of
> > sunken timber logs from the reservoir bottom over the years had
dispersed
> > the meteorite fragments over a much larger area than was originally
> > anticipated. Eventually, with the help of a metal detector, our group
> > recovered approximately 150 kg of samples.
> >
> >
> > Encountering Difficulties
> >
> > The friendliness shown by the local population was inversely
proportional
> to
> > the growing awareness of the potential value of the possible find. A
> > representative of the local 'Family', paid us a visit by jeep, showing a
> > great but vaguely formulated interest in our diving activities.
> > After our diving group departed in late spring, scientists from the city
> of
> > Sverdlovsk, led by professor Grokhovsky, arrived with their own group of
> > divers who risked their lives on weakened ice that had developed cracks
> and
> > was no longer safe to walk on in the hope of locating any meteoritic
> > substance missed by our group.
> > We appealed to the Committee for Meteorites at the Vernadsky Institute
to
> > have samples of the Shirokovsky specimens tested. Our appeal was
rejected
> on
> > the grounds that they had no information about the Ugleuralsky meteorite
> > fall, despite a number of scientific and media reports dating back to
> 1956.
> > Sampling services and subsequent registration were offered by enthusiast
> A.
> > Milanovsky (http://meteorites.narod.ru), but our group was not looking
for
> > easy ways. We planned to have the Shirokovsky samples tested and
> registered
> > as a meteorite in another country. We sent a representative to the
Girorne
> > Meteoritic Fair in Germany where he met people from the same CMET who
> > originally rejected our appeal to have the samples tested. This time,
they
> > convinced our representative that it would be patriotic to carry out the
> > research and register the meteorite in Russia.
> >
> >
> > Defining a Meteorite
> >
> > Further developments in our quest to have Shirokovsky registered as a
> > meteorite can serve as a precedent for future discussions on the topic
> 'what
> > should be considered a meteorite?'.
> > Historically, the system of identification and registration of
meteorites
> > first presumes that a sample is either of terrestrial origin or
> artificial.
> > To prevent the Committee on Meteorites from being transformed into the
> > mining branch, they quickly sift out the 'rubbish', by searching for
> > specific features defined by a system of identification that follows
> > existing theories of the formation of the universe. Logically, the
samples
> > treated most skeptically are those submitted without genealogy, those
that
> > have no testimonial evidence of their fall or the point of impact.
> > In the case of Shirokovsky, not only is the area of the fall identified,
> but
> > the actual point of impact was accurately located in the frozen
reservoir.
> > During the course of our four search expeditions, an area at the bottom
of
> > the reservoir with a radius of 100m centered beneath the identified
point
> of
> > impact was literally scrutinized with magnifying glasses and pincers. We
> > found no other stones capable of leaving the iron-nickel traces that
were
> > found on the walls of the ice hole where the meteorite entered the
> reservoir
> > in 1956. Nor was anything found by our rivals, the alternative divers'
> > expedition from the city of Sverdlovsk. It is almost certain that what
our
> > divers lifted from the reservoir bottom is what fell from the sky, broke
> > through the ice and left the iron nickel traces in 1956, simply because
> > their was nothing else found on the reservoir bottom that could have
left
> > such traces.
> >
> >
> > Testing of Shirokovsky
> >
> > Recent testing of Shirokovsky has indicated that Shirokovsky is on the
> > terrestrial oxygen isotope fractionation line. Experts of the Kurchatov
> > Institute have questioned the purity of this testing because the sample
> > specimen was not properly prepared by means of laser ablation for the
mass
> > spectrometry. Before it was tested, the sample underwent thermal,
chemical
> > and other influences that may have led to substitution of oxygen in the
> > olivine. At this stage, the Saint Petersburgian Scientific Research
> > Institute will provide some aid with VSEGEI (noble gases, lead) and
GIPCH
> > (oxygen) testing under the direction of the Russian Academy of Science
> > Precambrian Institute Research Laboratory of U. A. (Shukulukov and L. K.
> > Levsky), where the samples are currently being prepared. We expect that
> the
> > tests results will show either the shifting of isotopic ratio relative
to
> > the line of terrestrial rocks or they will ascribe the sample to the
> > anomalous group - lunar, Martian, aubrita, etc - that contradicts the
> > homogeneous picture of the origin of the terrestrial rocks.
> > Radiogenic argon was found in the Shirokovsky specimens, although in
> smaller
> > quantities than expected. We hope that the figures will be more in line
> > after a properly prepared sample is tested at the above-mentioned
> > institutions.
> >
> >
> > Making a Meteorite
> >
> > When the test results, results from testing conducted on an improperly
> > prepared Shirokovsky specimen, favored a terrestrial origin, some
> speculated
> > that the specimen was an artificially produced 'false meteorite' -
similar
> > to a product produced through blast furnace casting in the former USSR.
> > In response to this speculation, we turned to the staff of different
> > scientific and metallurgical institutions, questioning the possibility
of
> > using existing technologies to create an object with a composition
similar
> > to that of Shirokovsky. The metallurgists gave quite an irrefutable
> answer.
> > Only three ways of forming metal are known:
> > 1. forging
> > 2. casting
> > 3. sintering (powder metallurgy)
> >
> > Forging:
> > Forging, where metal is heated to a high temperature, then hammered into
> > shape, is obviously out of the question.
> >
> > Casting
> > Casting an object with a composition similar to that of Shirokovsky is
> > possible only under zero gravity conditions, since Archimedean force
would
> > instantly eject the lighter minerals to the surface.
> >
> > Sintering (Powder Metallurgy)
> > Sintering would allow minerals to disperse inside the mould. But no
mould
> > could cast a stone with surface protrusions that jut out at opposing
> angles.
> > The extraction of the object from the mould would inevitably lead to its
> > destruction. Moreover, the outside cavities of the mould would tend to
> fill
> > with the smaller particles of powder instead of the larger mineral
> crystals.
> > Shirokovsky has surface protrusions that jut out at opposing angles.
These
> > protrusions are filled with larger pieces of olivine and metallic
matrix.
> >
> >
> > What is Shirokovsky?
> >
> > Thus, in summary, Shirokovsky can be described as:
> > "something found at the point of impact of a celestial body and
something
> > impossible to produce with methods currently known to science".
> >
> >
> > A. Alexeyevich
> > Full Member of the Russian Geographical Society.
> > Participant of the search expedition for the Ugleuralsky (Shirokovsky)
> > meteorite.
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
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> >
> >
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Received on Thu 12 Jun 2003 12:50:47 PM PDT