[meteorite-list] Morocco new fall news.

From: McomeMeteorite Meteorite <meteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Dec 3 12:45:08 2004
Message-ID: <BAY2-F279AFC80ED30BF3D98306FC0B10_at_phx.gbl>

$6 - 10/gr. ? Moroccan people they begin to do clever, but in the same time
they will be ruined with them their same hands

Matteo


>From: "Michael Farmer" <meteoritehunter_at_comcast.net>
>To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
>Subject: [meteorite-list] Morocco new fall news.
>Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2004 10:14:51 -0700
>
>Hello everyone, I have just arrived back in Tucson after one of the most
>difficult and dangerous trips I have ever done.
>
>I was in Morocco for the last week to investigate the new fall and a new
>Pallasite. Everything that could have gone wrong on this trip, did, so I
>left Morocco very quickly and returned home.
>
>I will make a very long story short but it should serve as a warning to
>all.
>
>I got some of the new Pallasite last month in Morocco, and planned a trip
>to go to the site of the meteorite find. It is in Western Sahara, right on
>the Algeria/Morocco/Mauritania borders. This is the same Pallasite that
>John Birdsell has some of.
>I was assured that it was no problem to go to the area, but when I got to
>Assa, we changed into a very old military vehicle, this is when I should
>have realized that something was wrong.
>When we got to Zag, we detoured off road for about 20 kilometers to avoid
>the town and police/military checkpoints.
>The meteorite is 30 kilometers south and east of Al Mahbas Western Sahara,
>and when we got about 20 kilometers from the area, we went off-road. That
>is when the Moroccans told me that this was a military-only, prohibited
>zone, and that we were not allowed there! I of course got a little
>concerned (especially when we saw several mine-fields. We were driving
>cross-country at night with no lights, only by full moonlight, (not a safe
>thing in an old war zone where mine-fields are still around).
>The next morning we arrived at the tent of the nomad who found the
>pallasite. He led us there, over the berm and military fighting
>emplacements to the site, Algeria was only about 2 kilometers away.
>The place is a small area about 10 meters across, many pieces, mostly shale
>fragments full of olivine crystals, and some small individuals. I searched
>it for about an hour and found many pieces, and one of the other Moroccans
>found a piece about 80 grams, just metal, no crystals. We had planned a
>careful search, but one of the Moroccans spotted a military patrol coming
>so we packed up quickly and fled. It is very flat there, nowhere to hide.
>They chased us for about 2 hours but we were too far ahead and they could
>not catch up, but it was close enough for me. An American with
>Metal-detectors, GPS,s, video cameras, and Satellite phones, is not welcome
>in a closed military zone. I had to hide as much as possible, dressed like
>a Moroccan, under blankets, until we left Western Sahara and got back to
>Assa.
>It was not a fun trip, and when we got to Assa, the hotel owner found out
>we had been in Al Mahbas and called the local military colonel, who
>promptly arrived to find out why we were in a prohibited area, and demanded
>a large bribe to allow us to avoid some very serious problems. The bribe
>was paid needless to say, but they had my information and copy of my
>passport from the hotel.
>I immediately demanded to get back to civilization and get the hell out of
>the country, which I did.
>I will give everyone the coordinates of the Pallasite, and anyone with the
>cajones to go there can be my guest. I have been around the world many
>times, and to worse places than this, but there is nothing that will put
>the fear of god in you like driving as fast as the vehicle will go for
>hours with military chasing you through mine-fields!
>This business can get dangerous as I just found out.
>
>On the second note, we also dealt with the new fall there, and it is a
>total disaster. I did not bother to go to the site, as all of my guys were
>there and none of them got any of the meteorite, and the people who had it
>offered it to them for $6 to $10 gram! I think that is absolutely ludicrous
>and anyone who pays that will seriously regret it as I expect it will be
>$1.00 gram soon enough, like Amgala and Bensour, the price will spike at
>the beginning, and collapse when more and more comes out.
>There is a lot of it, many kilos and it will be available. I had other
>problems to deal with there and the new fall was the least on my list.
>There is a lot more to this entire story, but this is the gist of it.
>For me, the Moroccans have become far to untrustworthy lately and I am
>likley done with that mess over there.
>Michael Farmer
>
>
>______________________________________________
>Meteorite-list mailing list
>Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
>http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list

_________________________________________________________________
Personalizza MSN Messenger con sfondi e fotografie!
http://www.ilovemessenger.msn.it/
Received on Fri 03 Dec 2004 12:44:08 PM PST