[meteorite-list] Re: Barringer Meteor $$$$

From: almitt <almitt_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:25:37 2004
Message-ID: <3EBBCDD3.7635F5E2_at_kconline.com>

Hi Bob and all,

Good topic, Nininger had an agreement with the Barringer family and when he went out
on recovery missions, hunting and as Steve Schoner pointed out did his collecting in
broad daylight, he would give half of his finds to the Barringer family as payment.
That was their agreement according to what Nininger has written about the hunting
there. I believe Nininger was very concern with integrity and reputation and I just
couldn't see him risk his credibility for specimens that the crater people seem to
think he took. I have been there and they haven't always been completely factual but
not so far off base the average person would know they were mistaken.

Perhaps the family is just upset that Harvey was successful in both collecting the
specimens as well as scientific endeavors far beyond what they ever achieve. I do
agree it is kept up really well and that ordinary people can't seem to reason that
some things are dangerous around natural settings and don't dress for it or are out of
condition for it as the lady who rolled down the steep crater wall and cause the walk
around the rim to be shut off to those who could.

My attempt to buy specimens from them didn't work out when I first went there many
years back. You would think they would have had some metal specimens for sale there
from the crater or from some other locality so people COULD buy a real meteorite.
Instead they acted as though I was being sacrilegious to even ask for something like
that. Perhaps if they sold material (saving it from the slow oxidation death and
contamination they get in the ground) then they would have the entire market.

Odd and curious behavior.

--AL
Received on Fri 09 May 2003 11:48:36 AM PDT