[meteorite-list] message from Eddie Garza

From: Walter Branch <branchw_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu May 13 21:03:29 2004
Message-ID: <003f01c4394e$e051b520$1d1cdc44_at_wbranch>

Hi Michael,

Thanks for forwarding this. This is about as funny as that tektite ad you
forwarded to the list about 5 or so years ago.

Let's have some fun, shall we?

>initially wanted local geologists to check out

Good for him!

>his find, but the man later balked.

Sounds like the pitching staff for the Atlanta Braves of the 1980s.

>yard reads "Home of the Meteorite" - said early

Well, at least he didn't call it a "meteor."

>It is about the size of a computer monitor and weighs
>more than 200 pounds.

Sounds like my mother-in-law.

>said his attorney advised him that he shouldn't let anyone
>look at the rock without speaking to the attorney first.

The man or the rock?
Did the rock break the law?
Illegal trespass, perhaps?

>He also said he didn't want to contact the attorney.

Note to reporter - clarification needed.

>Suarez, who said he had three doctorates from the
>University of California at Los Angeles and an Ivy
>League school

Psychological note: psychotic and delusional people are often very bright.

..but then the psychotic and/or delusional symptoms kind of detract from the
brightness.

>hopes to sell the rock to a museum,

I read a while back about a museum dedicated to doorknobs, but I could not
remember where it was located. Apparently someone else knows the
whereabouts of the museum..

>and said he has had offers from tabloid newspaper for
>hundreds of thousands of dollars.

...for the story... the rock... all the man's doorknobs?

Clarification needed...

>Suarez said he and his wife walked about a half-mile
>off the side of the interstate and found the meteor,
>"glowing orange."

Sounds like a basketball that has been set ablaze.

>"There was steam coming out of all these holes,"

well, obviously a meteorite...
no Earth rock would dare to have steam coming out
of it's holes.

>They put the rock onto a blanket, hauled it a half-mile to
>their Chevrolet Cavalier

So let me get this straight. He and his wife walked a half mile into the
desert, found the burning b-ball, and dragged it a half-mile back.

Looks like all you guys with metal detectors, eye witness reports, etc. have
been doing it wrong all these years. Think of the meteorites you would find
if you would only use the "Suarez method."

>put it in the trunk and drove it home, Suarez said.

without any fear that the glowing, steam emitting b-ball would ignite the
gas in the gas tank.

fearless individuals...

>However, no news of a meteor reached Lowell
>Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz.,a privately owned
>astronomical research institution founded in 1894 by
>Percival Lowell, the man who discovered the planet
>Pluto.

Astronomical Note #1: Correction. Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in
1930.

Here is a hastily photographed philatelic cover which I created back in 1995
for the 65th anniversary of Tombaugh's discovery. Clyde kindly signed and
inscribed it for me few months before his death on January 17, 1997.
http://www.branchmeteorites.com/misc/pluto.jpg

Astronomical note #2: The name "Pluto" was suggested by Venetia Bierney, an
11 year old girl living in England. The name was agreed upon by the staff
at the Observatory.

Okay, that one mistake blows the credibility of the whole story for me :-)

>"If there really was a meteor as big as he says, it would
>have been spectacular," said Brian Skiff, a research
> assistant at Lowell Observatory.

Get em, Brian!!!

>Since Suarez brought the rock into his home, he said,
>strange things have happened.

>"All our watches have gone haywire," he said.

>"The clocks in the house either go way far ahead or they
>stop."

Well, get yourself an atomic clock synchronized to the US Navel Observatory
and forget about those cheap Wal- Mart knock offs.

...but really, what is time anyway...

>Suarez also said the rock repels magnets

turn the rock 180 degrees around

or turn the magnet 180 degrees around...

(get it)

>and even has jiggled.

(Oh, the possibilities with that one but I'll just write...)

Again, sounds like my mother-in-law.

>A white splotch on the bottom of the rock appears to be >a coating of
calcium carbonate, which would indicate
>that the rock has been sitting on the Earth for a
>considerable period, according to the Blounts.

Upon closer examination, it reads "Spaulding"

>Allan Treiman, a scientist who specializes in meteorites
>at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, looked
>at a photo of the rock Monday and said he was "100
>percent" sure it was lava rock - the same type of rock
>people use in barbecues. "

C'mon, Allan. How do you know it's not from a Martain BBQ. Or Venusian for
that matter.

scientists, huh..

-Walter

------------------------------------------
www.branchmeteorites.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael L Blood" <mlblood_at_cox.net>
To: "Meteorite List" <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2004 1:10 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] message from Eddie Garza


> Hi Michael,
> This story is good for a laugh, but kind of makes me feel sorry for the
guy.
> Coincidentally, tuesday when the story came out I was already going to
give
> a presentation about meteorites to my local Civitan Club. I was going to
> contact the reporter or the man who found the meteorwrong and give him a
> specimen to encourage him in the right direction. However, today this
> article is published and I don't think that would be a good idea anymore.
> I'd like to FWD the atricle to the Meteorite-List but Im having trouble
with
> my POP mail. could you fwd it to the list for me?
> Thanks,
> -Eddie A. Garza
> ----
> "Man says his meteorite breaks clocks, jiggles
> He says attorney told him not to let geologists look at rock
>
> By Matthew Sturdevant Caller-Times Contact Matthew Sturdevant at 886-3778
or
> sturdevantm_at_caller.com
> May 13, 2004
>
> The Corpus Christi man who said he found a recently fallen meteorite early
> Sunday in northern Arizona initially wanted local geologists to check out
> his find, but the man later balked when the geologists showed up at his
door
> Wednesday.
>
> Joe Suarez of 1001 Vaky St. - where a fiery red and yellow sign in the
front
> yard reads "Home of the Meteorite" - said early Wednesday that he
encouraged
> anyone to take a look at the oval-shaped, pockmarked rock he found. It is
> about the size of a computer monitor and weighs more than 200 pounds.
>
> Two geology professors at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Grady and
Kit
> Price-Blount, accepted the invitation to look at the rock. But when they
> arrived at Suarez's home at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Suarez said his attorney
> advised him that he shouldn't let anyone look at the rock without speaking
> to the attorney first. He also said he didn't want to contact the
attorney.
>
> Suarez, who said he had three doctorates from the University of California
> at Los Angeles and an Ivy League school, hopes to sell the rock to a
museum,
> and said he has had offers from tabloid newspaper for hundreds of
thousands
> of dollars.
>
> Suarez's tale began about 3 a.m. Sunday as he and his wife, Diane, drove
> from California back home to Corpus Christi on Interstate 40 about 100
miles
> east of Flagstaff, Ariz. There, he said, they saw a meteor streak through
> the sky.
>
> Suarez said he and his wife walked about a half-mile off the side of the
> interstate and found the meteor, "glowing orange."
>
> "There was steam coming out of all these holes," Suarez said Monday,
> pointing to pockmarks on the exterior of the rock. They put the rock onto
a
> blanket, hauled it a half-mile to their Chevrolet Cavalier, put it in the
> trunk and drove it home, Suarez said.
>
> However, no news of a meteor reached Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff,
Ariz.,
> a privately owned astronomical research institution founded in 1894 by
> Percival Lowell, the man who discovered the planet Pluto.
>
> "If there really was a meteor as big as he says, it would have been
> spectacular," said Brian Skiff, a research assistant at Lowell
Observatory.
> "It would have lit up the sky like daytime. That would have been a big
light
> in the sky observed by hundreds of people."
>
> Since Suarez brought the rock into his home, he said, strange things have
> happened.
>
> "All our watches have gone haywire," he said.
>
> "The clocks in the house either go way far ahead or they stop."
>
> Suarez also said the rock repels magnets and even has jiggled.
>
> Grady and Kit Price-Blount looked at a photo of the rock Monday and
Tuesday
> and said it appeared to be something that has been on the desert floor for
> quite some time.
>
> A white splotch on the bottom of the rock appears to be a coating of
calcium
> carbonate, which would indicate that the rock has been sitting on the
Earth
> for a considerable period, according to the Blounts.
>
> Allan Treiman, a scientist who specializes in meteorites at the Lunar and
> Planetary Institute in Houston, looked at a photo of the rock Monday and
> said he was "100 percent" sure it was lava rock - the same type of rock
> people use in barbecues. "
>
> Corpus Christi Caller Times
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Received on Thu 13 May 2004 09:00:40 PM PDT