[meteorite-list] Morocco new fall news.

From: Matson, Robert <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat Dec 4 02:26:24 2004
Message-ID: <AF564D2B9D91D411B9FE00508BF1C86904EE620B_at_US-Torrance.mail.saic.com>

Hi Mike and List,

> 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. <snip>

Quite the harrowing story! Thanks for sharing it with the list.
Your experience should give people pause -- a moment to step back
and evaluate life's priorities. We all love meteorites, but it's
important to maintain some perspective. Space rocks are not worth
incarceration, let alone injury or death. When I read about your
experiences, as well as some others that have appeared in just the
last year on the pages of Meteorite Magazine, I wonder why you (and
they) risk it. Of course, I realize everyone has a risk vs. reward
threshold, and there is certainly a thrill aspect to just barely
avoiding a really bad situation.

If Morocco and the western Sahara in general were the only "games"
in town, I could understand the appeal. But if meteorites are the
true end-goal, then it seems to me that anyone living in the U.S.
has the advantage of deserts in their own backyard. Why risk
life and limb (and foreign food/water intestinal distress ;-) when
there are plenty of meteorites waiting to be found in your own home
state, or its desert neighbors?

Which segues into an ironic thought that occurred to me earlier
this year: many people have wondered when and where the next "NWA"
is going to occur. Perhaps it's quietly already happening in the
western US.

--Rob
Received on Sat 04 Dec 2004 02:22:28 AM PST