[meteorite-list] venusmeteorite - Space slag, Boggy creek, Alien gems, Frass & marble traders. What a circus

From: Dave Freeman mjwy <dfreeman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2007 22:18:57 -0700
Message-ID: <45D93341.2060907_at_fascination.com>

Geeze, boggy creek all over again!
DF

Bill wrote:

>I'm glad I never bothered to follow this thread.
>
>Bill
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: randall_gregory at yahoo.com
> Sent: Sun, 18 Feb 2007 09:35:43 -0800 (PST)
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Subject: [meteorite-list] venusmeteorite - Space slag, Boggy creek, Alien
> gems, Frass & marble traders. What a circus
>
> I would like to thank those people that responded to my questions. I am
> thinking of retiring from the list for short time to finish my research and
> have the impact crater registered. I need to devote my time elsewhere.To the
> people that have provided encouragement, support and would like further
> updates, Email me at r.randall.gregory at gmail.com
> <mailto:r.randall.gregory at gmail.com> and I'll send them off-list.
>
> I will keep my promise of payment for identical photos of my samples, but I
> am now not actively soliciting them. I am growing increasingly frustrated
> and need to regain my composure. So far, nobody has ever answered my basic
> question "What definitive testing will prove space weathering".
>
> Recently, a meteorite dealer told me that pictures of my samples were
> sandstone covered by desert varnish even after I told him that the rocks
> were basaltic and geologists at the National University in Peru have never
> seen rocks like this. I've seen desert varnish many many times on my
> searches for fossilized Megalodon teeth in the Peruvian desert. Peruvian
> geologists are highly trained and well respected.
>
> This and other insults from meteorite dealers made me realize that alot of
> people are just marble traders and have little scientific knowledge or
> formal training. Some found meteorite trading profitable and others it's
> just an off-shoot of their main business of minerals and fossils. Some took
> their weekend excursions into strewn fields armed with metal detectors and
> found some meteorites to sell on e-bay. I mean no disrespect to any
> collectors with a genuine interest and appreciation of meteorites. I find
> them fascinating.
>
> You can sense my frustration. I agree that most know their marbles. Hey, I
> have a steelie, wanna trade. Yo, I have a peral-lie for sale. Wanna see a
> picture of a shooter? ooooooohhh I've got a cat's eye. So, along comes a guy
> with something a bit unusual. Hey, I found something and I'll call it a
> spark-lie for now. It looks like your marbles, rolls like your marbles, but
> I can't prove that it's a marble. Can you help me find out what it is? I'll
> even give you one for free. And alot of the marble players say "sorry you
> can't play in our game with your unknown marbles and we're too busy buying
> and trading to help you". Buzz off.
>
> There has been speculation resulting from artificial ablation studies on
> terrestrial rocks that some meteorites may have a clear or transparent
> fusion crust. Hey, we now have a clear-rie! What marble dealer would
> recognize this as a marble?
>
> You know, I even offered to send (post-paid) a free sample to some dealers
> and never received a reply. I've read enough, and I'm done with dealers.
> Dealers reporting stolen meteorites then selling the "missing" meteorites to
> absentee bidders. The eBay scams, alien gemstones, space slag, dishonest
> dealers, and people looking only to profit has tainted my view somewhat of
> the people involved in the meteorite field. Some of you might recall the
> story of a well-known meteorite dealer that was accused of stealing a very
> valuable meteorite (considered to be a national treasure) from a museum in
> Brazil. He was apprehended at the airport with the meteorite in his luggage...
>
> Other people have e-mailed me and said my website www.venusmeteorite.com
> <http://www.venusmeteorite.com/> was very nice. IT IS NOT MY WEBSITE!!! and
> I never claimed my samples were from Venus. I repeat, my samples are
> identical to the ones found on venusmeteorite.com. That's all. I don't have
> a website. What a circus.
>
> I realized that the people that I should be talking to are volcanologists
> (neck-deep in lava, so to speak). They can give me a real expert opinion on
> basaltic rocks. So I am now taking the opposite approach. If volcanologists
> have never seen rocks like this and geologists have never seen rocks like
> this, then... guess what? If it can't be found on Earth then ...
>
> The response I've received from the people in the field of volcanology has
> been fantastic. They've requested samples, and will make 40 micron slices.
> They will be sending samples to other universities and another to friends at
> the Smithsonian Institution for further analysis and expert opinion. This is
> the type of response I was hoping from the meteorite community but never
> received. I received a great deal of ridicule. The exception are the few
> scientists that helped answer some of my questions. To them, my thanks and
> appreciation.
>
> As of this moment, only a few samples are know to exist, the author of
> venusmeteorite.com and myself thus making them even more rare than
> Martian meteorites. Score 34 for the Martians and approximately 18 for the
> _______? You fill in the blank. (Venusians, Mercurians, nut-bags, idiots,
> Space slaggers, whatever...)
>
> My wife suggested that I auction one to help with our costs. Let me
> reiterate, I am not in this to make money, folks. I will be incuring
> significant costs for very expensive private testing when I return to the
> United States.
>
> If and only if the samples prove to be meteoritic, then I'll put one of my
> samples up for auction to help pay for excavation of the main impact
> crater. If I decide to auction, it will be a private auction house and
> not Ebay. Only after all testing has been completed will I then decide
> whether or not to submit one to auction.
>
> My wife can be very convincing. With reluctance, I agreed with her but only
> one will auctioned and bids will not be accepted from any dealer or dealer
> proxy. I don't know if it's legally possible but I would also to request
> assurances that the auctioned stone will not be cut. I'll supply
> additional cut slices along with the main stone. The winning bidder will be
> entitled to everything relating to the main fall, including a percentage
> (20%) ownership of the crater. They will have copies of everything
> including: all test results, all written opinions, eyewitness accounts,
> videos, pictures, police reports, seismic data, all e-mails, expedition
> reports, newspaper coverage, statements, university and military reports,
> and a personal guided expedition to the actual crater where they can hunt
> and keep anything they find.
>
> And finally, the funds from the winning bidder will be held in third party
> escrow, until the after the crater studies are completed because I want to
> assure the buyer, that what they purchased is legitimate and very rare. We
> will then start excavation of the crater estimated to cost over $65,000. The
> bidding will start at that price.
>
> Anyone that can fully assist with this future auction will receive 15% of
> the winning bid.
>
>
> Randall
>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Bored stiff? <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=49935/*http://games.yahoo.com>
> Loosen up...
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>
>
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Received on Mon 19 Feb 2007 12:18:57 AM PST