[meteorite-list] Chiang Khan authenticity

From: martinh_at_isu.edu <martinh_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:31:25 2004
Message-ID: <27d8a26a6d.26a6d27d8a_at_isu.edu>

Hi All,

Several years ago, I met Oliver through some email exchanges. Oliver's interest in Chiang Khan is more than passing, and I suspect he is the world's authority on the fall.

We discussed Chiang Khan years ago, and even to this day, I consider it an honor that he took the time and effort to educate me about the fall and his recovery efforts. Oliver even gave me a piece of Chiang Khan for reference. I have since gotten a much larger piece, a oriented complete individual to be more specific. And the one pictured in the auction is not too different from my own.

Therefore should one question the authenticity of the piece of Chiang Khan under discusson, please know that although its looks are somewhat non-traditional, it is well within specs for this fall.

Cheers,

Martin H. (USA)

----- Original Message -----
From: Martin Altmann <Altmann_at_Meteorite-Martin.de>
Date: Sunday, February 22, 2004 6:24 am
Subject: [meteorite-list] Chiang Khan authenticity

> Hello list,
>
>
as there were some doubts concerning the authenticity of the Chiang
> Khanmaterial, offered here in this list for charity purposes in
> Thailand by
> Mr.Alge, I feel, that I have to post a statement.
>
> I unconditionally warrant the authenticity of his specimens not
> only as a
> member of IMCA, but with my name as meteorite seller and collector.
>
> I know Oliver as a collector, client and as a great person for more
> than two
> years. I remember that he contacted me first looking for two meteorite
> samples from Austria and Thailand for his wedding rings, as he's
> born in
> Austria and his wife is from Thailand. Well, Mr.Bartoschewitz, one
> of the
> largest collectors in Germany and founder and organizator of the
> wellknownInternational Meteorite Fair in Gifhorn (attention! this
> year the show will
> take place from May 14th - 16th and not in October) was so kind to
> supplyhim wis a Chiang Khan specimen. For their honeymoon
> Mr.&Mrs.Alge travelled
> to Th
ailand and Oliver decided to start some investigations about
> the Chiang
> Khan fall - this first stay extended to 3 months (they are still
> married..)and turned to a really exciting expedition, where they
> did an immense and
> really great field work!
> Travelling weeks and weeks through the jungle between Laos and
> Thailand and
> holding interviews with many dozens of eyewitnesses, Oliver was not
> onlyable to acquire a few specimens of Chiang Khan from the locals,
> but also
> collected valuable informations about this fall, giving hints that
> indeedthere might be the possibility that two independent falls may
> have occured
> in the same region within a short period of time.
>
> On his next trip, which took 4 months, he was hunting by his own
> with a
> detector, digging hundreds of holes as there are many iron bearing
> rocks,and was lucky to find two specimens by his own.
> Meanwhile he travelled some more times to Thailand, acquired more
> ChiangKhan m
aterial, but now the region is empty.
>
> He showed some of his finds to the University in Bangkog, where a
> stone of
> 2kg is kept, which is not listed in the Catalogue (they directly
> wanted to
> buy the specimens from him) and Mr.Bartoschewitz, one of the few
> collectors,who has a larger amount of reference material of Chiang
> Khan in his
> collection compared the samples and reported, as far as I know, the
> newfinds to the Met.Soc.
>
> I personally have no doubts neither, that the material is
> authentic. I was
> helping Oliver to sell some samples and I had also the privilege to
> slice up
> one stone.
> The specimens I had display an astonishing quite fresh fusion
> crust. I
> remember especially a fantastic oriented nose-coned stone with
> radial flow
> lines on the apex.
> The specimen I cut, showed a fine brecciation with lighter smaller
> clastssimilar to some Juanchengs for example.
> Some of the stones you still can find listed on my old homepage:

> http://www.meteorite-martin.de/chondrit_meteorit.html
>
> and there you can see, that the stones are much better looking than
> on the
> pictures, which Oliver made for his new Chiang-Khan-site.
> Some of the specimens on my page were sold and Oliver decided to
> keep the
> rest of them in his own collection - so one can be glad, that he
> now changed
> his mind and is offering again some of the material and this for a
> reallynoble purpose!
>
> The entry in the "Catalogue for Meteorites" is inconsistent - there
> is given
> a tkw of 367grams, but in the same article is listed a 2.5kg stone
> at the
> UCLA.
>
> With all the efforts it took for Oliver to recover his material,
> with the
> unique circumstances of the fall (or falls) and the extremly limited
> availability of Chiang Khan, in my eyes his price of 37$/g is
> firmly to low.
> I was selling Chiang Khan at 55Euro/g and if you compare this price
> withother falls, which are easy available as for example
 Barwell
> starting at
> 80$/g, Alfianello or even famous Park Forest, you will agree.
>
> Last but not least, for all those who like those "car-, house-,
> letter box-,
> cow-, dog-, curbstone-, my fence-, the green, green grass
> smashers": A
> fisher man in his boat on the Mekong River was hit by some stones -
> thethird case from which I know.
> There was the boy hit by a small stone from the Mbale fall and this
> women in
> Sylacauga, who was hurt by the stone, who crashed through the
> ceiling and
> smashed her radio.
>
> And before some start to grumble for a proof - I take it for a sign of
> Oliver's honesty, that he didn't run to a notary for a
> "certification", who
> didn't attend the incident, of this event 20years after it happend
> as a
> special gimmick for sale, as I heard, it should have happened in
> anotherknown case. So believe it or not, the fisherman and his wife
> are still
> living there.
>
> To come to an end, I warmthly recommend to pur
chase those Chiang
> Khans, I
> warrant the autheticity, I'm sure Oliver will take back the
> specimens, if
> the buyer is not completely satisfied with, it's a real uncommon
> interestingand superrare fall at a more than fair price and finally
> it's for charity!
>
> I have to say - sorry Oliver, I know that you are to modest, that
> you would
> like to read it here, but I have to tell! -
> that Oliver is an absolutely honest, social commited, generous
> person with a
> noble character
> and in all the years he supported me with litterally hundredweights of
> brandnew clothes and toys for the poor children in Romania as
> donation.There.
>
> So take this stuff!
> http://hometown.aol.de/zneutronz/index.html
>
> Martin Altmann
> IMCA#3825
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: zneutronz_at_aol.com
> To: MeteoriteCollectors_at_yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Friday, February 20, 2004 8:23 PM
> Subject: [MeteoriteCollectors] Chiang Khan Donation Sale
>
>
> Hello all !
>

> If you are interested please check out my new Chiang Khan sales
> page :
>
> http://hometown.aol.de/zneutronz/index.html
>
> We will donate a huge part of this money to HIV and human help
> projects in
> the district of Chiang Khan.
> I just come back from a 3 month trip in Chiang Khan and it is time
> to help
> !!
>
> Thanks, Oliver
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
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Received on Sun 22 Feb 2004 10:09:28 AM PST