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From: bogus_at_does.not.exist.com_at_meteoritecentral.com
Date: Thu Apr 22 13:01:07 2004
Message-ID: <mailman.48.1082653267.407.meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>

-Furnas County Meteorite Fall, February 18, 1948<BR><BR>A spectacular fir=
eball accompanied by violent explosions streaked northward over Kansas at=
 5:00 p.m. on February 18, 1948. One hour later, LaPaz was informed of th=
e event by the Civil Air Patrol, who thought at first that a plane had cr=
ashed. LaPaz followed up sightings through Civil Air Patrol channels, con=
cluded that a meteorite had fallen, and within two weeks, calculated a pr=
obable shower ellipse near the Kansas-Nebraska line.<BR>Meanwhile, the Ni=
ningers heard the news, went to the scene, and talked with many people, b=
ut a mid-winter blizzard forced them to leave before completing a search =
for meteorites. A farmer living in Norton County, Kansas, found the first=
 stone late in the following spring, and after that many more were found =
in the same general area. In August, a farmer working his fields in Furna=
s County, Nebraska, a few miles north of the Kansas-Nebraska line, felt h=
is tractor tilt steeply and found it perched at the edge of a hole 10 ft.=
 deep with a huge stone at the bottom. The stone proved to be a magnifice=
nt flight-oriented cone weighing nearly one ton. This piece holds the rec=
ord as the largest stony meteorite specimen in North America.<BR>Nininger=
 asserted later that he had alerted the farmer to look for large stones o=
n his property, and so the farmer had called him to report his discovery.=
 Nininger traveled to the farm as soon as possible and climbed down into =
the hole to collect small chips that lay on the bottom and to prepare to =
collect the huge stone. But this stone lay within the strewnfield predict=
ed by LaPaz who felt that his map together with his own lines of communic=
ation constituted a valid claim. Presently, Nininger heard voices and loo=
ked up to see LaPaz and Leonard peering over the edge of the hole. LaPaz'=
 party of five soon was joined by a party of four from the Nebraska State=
 and University Museums. LaPaz claimed prior rights to the stone, based o=
n his calculations of the find site and the notice that had been sent to =
him. Nininger claimed finders' rights as well as what amounted to squatte=
rs' rights. As neither man would yield, permission was obtained from the =
absentee landlord to hold an<BR>auction in the farmhouse at night. Togeth=
er, the Institute of Meteoritics and the University of Nebraska outbid Ni=
ninger, who left the scene. The stone was securely wrapped in burlap, coa=
ted with plaster of Paris, and lifted out of the hole by a crane. It then=
 was loaded on a truck for a slow 550-mile drive to the Institute of Mete=
oritics in Albuquerque.<BR><BR>To: thebigcollector_at_msn.com<BR>Cc: Meteori=
te-list_at_meteoritecentral.com<BR><BR><BR>_________________________________=
_____________<BR>Meteorite-list mailing list<BR>Meteorite-list_at_meteoritec=
entral.com<BR>http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list<BR>=
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Received on Thu 22 Apr 2004 12:55:47 PM PDT