[meteorite-list] Happy Birthday Peekskill

From: geoking_at_notkin.net <geoking_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:28:23 2004
Message-ID: <v04220808bbaa4ab511f9_at_[171.75.88.174]>

Greetings Dear Listees:

Eleven years ago today -- on October 9, 1992, at around 8 pm -- the
Peekskill meteorite pummelled Michelle Knapp's Chevy Malibu as it sat
innocently in her driveway. During the intervening years, Peekskill
has become one of the most sought-after witnessed falls, and on the
rare occasions that pieces are offered for sale they are quickly
snapped up by collectors.

The car itself is owned by List member Allan Lang, and a history of
the Peekskill Car and its travels to some of the world's great
museums can be found on a special page of the R.A. Langheinrich
Meteorites website at:

http://www.nyrockman.com/peekskill.htm

Last year, for the tenth anniversary of the fall, I wrote a short
news item for Joel Schiff's "Meteorite" magazine, and I include the
text, below, for those who may not have seen it.


Regards to all,

Geoff N.


**************

[ Published in "Meteorite" magazine, Vol. 8, No. 4 ]


PARKING METEOR
By Geoffrey Notkin

This month marks the tenth anniversary of the best-known meteoritic
event in recent history. Everyone it seems - even those with no
particular interest in the field - has heard about "the meteorite
that hit that car in New York." "The meteorite" was a 12,570 gram H6,
and "that car" was a cherry red 1981 Chevy Malibu.

On the evening of October 9, 1992 officers from the Peekskill Police
Department arrived at the Knapp family home to investigate a
disturbance. Their initial impression - upon seeing the caved-in
corner of Michelle Knapp's car - was that it had suffered "criminal
mischief by a very strong male."

Once the truth had been discovered, a consortium of collectors
purchased the stone, and it suffered the fate of most unique and
sought-after meteorites: dissection by diamond-tipped saw. Pieces can
today be seen in museums, and collectors' cabinets throughout the
world. The Peekskill Meteorite Car itself, is owned by R.A.
Langheinrich Meteorites, and over the past ten years it has become a
one-of-a-kind international celebrity. Traveling nearly as far as the
stone that hit it, the Malibu has been a star attraction at the
American Museum of Natural History in New York; the annual Tucson Gem
and Mineral Show; and has visited Japan, Germany, France, and
Switzerland to the delight of thousands of visitors.

When the car is at home, Allan Lang puts it to good use: last year,
he and some friends watched the spectacular Leonid meteor shower from
inside the vehicle. "It's a portable impact crater," Allan muses.
"And you don't see too many of those around."

Visit www.nyrockman.com/peekskill.htm to learn more about the car.
Received on Thu 09 Oct 2003 01:08:09 AM PDT