[meteorite-list] Adventura del Monte Meteorite

From: Mike Fowler <mqfowler_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Jul 12 20:27:45 2006
Message-ID: <AD2B995C-E4D0-44FA-8DE9-3A9575FFE3C8_at_mac.com>

> Mark and all,
>
> What is the story on this "meteorite."
>
> Someone paid big bucks for it. Is it or is it not a meteorite.
>
> Steve Schoner
> AMS
> IMCA #4470



 From Mike Fowler, proud owner of "Aventura del Monte"
Chicago
ebay--starsandrocks

Hi Steve and List,

Although it has not been officially confirmed as a meteorite, I have
no doubts about it, nor has anyone else who has seen it or Mark's
very good photo's.

I've been meaning to post to the list about this, but have been so
behind at work, that meteorite related things have had to wait. My
apologies for not keeping all informed.

Before I bid on Ebay, I did all the research that I possibly could,
which included checking what other iron meteorites had been found in
Zacatecas, Mexico, where this one was found. Mazapil, a witnessed
fall from 1885 bore a striking resemblance to the "Aventura del
Monte" in the manner of the regmaglypts, and especially the presence
of many troilite nodules jumped to my attention. Of course I was
fortunate to have a copy of Buchwald handy. See page 809 for a
picture. This confirmed to me that the appearance was consistent
with being a real meteorite, without having to be a misrepresented
Sikhote-Alin.

Mark Bostick's first hand report and photo's made this possible
without me having to drive to Wichita before the auction, which would
have been difficult for me to do. Although Mark's conclusions were
somewhat guarded, he provided all the information one needed to come
to their own conclusion.

Although I had already come to my own conclusion, Steve Schoner's
post to the list gave me further confidence.

After, I won the auction on Easter Sunday. I decided to drive to
Wichita, Kansas to pick up the meteorite, and since I was dealing
with an ebay newbie, I arranged to transfer the money after I had
inspected the meteorite.

I left Monday and came back very tired, but happy on Tuesday night
about midnight. About 11 hours driving, each way, on interstate
highway mostly at 80 miles per hour. I have a Volkswagen Jetta turbo
diesel that gets more than 40 mpg, even at 80 mph, so the fuel
expense of the trip was only $103.00. Much less than flying, or even
just shipping the meteorite ground.

I spent the night at Mark Bostick's house where he offered me the
couch. We talked meteorites over a couple of beers. Tuesday
morning we went to meet the seller, and pick up the meteorite.

Juan Montoya and his wife are very friendly and open people. They
invited us into their house, offered us a beer, and we talked quite a
while, all the time in the company of the most amazing iron
meteorite. Juan is a machinist, off work because of an accident. He
was selling the meteorite only reluctantly because of the need to
make up for lost income.

He told me how he saw it for sale in a shop in his home town, Monte
Escobedo, Zacatecas, and how he bought it from the owner after some
fierce bargaining. He says, that even to this day he never told his
wife how much he paid for it, as it was not sold cheap!

(My wife doesn't know what I paid either, although I tried to comfort
her with the assurance that it is potentially worth quite a bit more
than I paid.)

Juan's wife even found a photo of the meteorite at the shop before he
bought it. She took a picture of her sister standing in front of the
shop and the meteorite was on a little cart by her feet. When she
took the photo, she had no idea her husband was going to buy it.

Juan said a local farmer kept striking it with his plow, and he
finally dug it up to get it out of the way. The son of the farmer
eventually sold it to the shop keeper.

For those interested, I will email you 2 photos, one of the seller
and his family, one of me. If you missed them, when Mark Bostick
offered them to the list, I can also email the high resolution
photo's he took of the meteorite.

I have talked to Paul Sipera of the Planetary Studies Foundation
about getting it classified. He, of course, said I should send a
sample to John Wasson.
First, I have to decide where to cut it and how much. I want to
preserve it intact, but I may take off a few small slices if I can
figure out how to do it without detracting from its value or
appearance. I am also consulting with Marlin Cilz about cutting it.

This one is truly a MUSEUM QUALITY SPECIMEN! Even my son and wife
are impressed.

Mike Fowler

PS I made several major meteorite purchases earlier this year, and
told my self that I had spent my budget already, and wasn't going to
"waste" any more time cruising ebay for meteorites. I hate to think
what I would have missed if I had kept my promise and didn't search
ebay for meteorites that week!
Received on Wed 12 Jul 2006 08:27:38 PM PDT