[meteorite-list] "Rock and Gem" Article + "Alien Metal"?

From: Notkin <geoking_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Oct 13 23:03:29 2006
Message-ID: <714c6acf933f4e38cad2f025e6199da6_at_notkin.net>

Dear Listees:

Greetings all from sunny Tucson -- the all-sunshine/no-winter city.

The current (November '06) issue of "Rock and Gem" includes a feature
article by Mark Mathosian entitled "Collecting Rocks from Space: Tips
for Beginning Collectors," pgs 80-82,90. It's an entry level article
with a few errors, but otherwise is written with considerable
enthusiasm and includes nice plugs for books we all know and enjoy
("Art of Collecting Meteorites," "Rocks from Space," etc.).

What puzzles me is the following paragraph:

"Some meteorites are very different from Earth rocks and contain
materials not found on Earth. The Estherville meteorite is a good
example. This space stone is composed of iron, nickel, phosphorous,
sulfur, and a metal not found on Earth. Because it contains an alien
metal, it is even more attractive to collectors."

And a picture quote which reads:

"The Estherville (Iowa) meteorite is composed of iron, nickel,
phosphorous, sulfur, and some unknown alien metal."


I never heard of any kind of "unknown alien metal," apart from the
Roswell ship, or course : ) Is there any truth to the above
statement?


Regards.

Geoff N.
www.aerolite.org
Received on Fri 13 Oct 2006 11:03:25 PM PDT