[meteorite-list] Texas meteorite find ...possible hoax.

From: wahlperry at aol.com <wahlperry_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:26:36 -0400
Message-ID: <8CAD375ACB30E61-14D0-32D1_at_Webmail-mg17.sim.aol.com>

Hi All,

I recently answered an ad regarding a meteorite for sale that was found
in Texas. I have included a portion of the email below.

>Thanks for your reply on the meteor. Here are some additional details
on it:

>I am an amateur fossil hunter and I was searching a river-bed in
central Texas, outside This river bed I was searching within is the
Lower Cretaceous-
>Glen Rose formation, well known for its ammonites, grastropods and
other shell fossils. It is a soft to hard limestone group and is
stratified into various layers. There are no known layers of metals
>such as irons, ingenious or other metamorphic type minerals within
this outcrop of Texas. During my hunt I ran across a dark, rust colored
"stone" sticking outside of the side bank at about two >feet above my
head. Was very much out of place as this was a tan-light brown colored
limestone layer. Started to pull it out, but had to pick it out. It was
very heavy and was rusted. Was pretty >excited about it and had my
suspension it was a meteor.

>Researched on the subject and ran a few objective analyses on it. It
is highly magnetic, has nickle content, shows fusion crust, one spot
has very bright silver underneath the rusting and weighs in >at 14.2
lbs. Consulted a couple of Geo-Techs and they agree it is a meteor. I
have attached photos of the ammonites I found within the same layer to
give you an idea >of the type of limestone and fossils found in that
formation.


After a lengthy phone conversation I agreed to his asking price. With
the agreement; before his receiving payment I would request to cut and
etch a small slice of the suspected meteorite. From the pictures it
looked very much like a weathered Campo or Nantan. I expressed my
concern that many of the Iron meteorites that are turning up today for
sale are meteorites that were purchased and being misrepresented as a
new find. Also it would be tough to find anyone to classify it if it
resembled a Campo or Nantan .The finder assured me that this was a new
find and another small piece was found above this location that
resembled the meteorite. I thought to myself this can't be true, I
better call up my hunting partner and reserve plane tickets now before
Steve Arnold or Ruben find out! Just kidding ! This is when things
started to get strange. The finder called a few times expressing
concerns about the value of the meteorite, increased interest from
potential buyers, etc. I was also forwarded a email from a person
wanting to purchase the meteorite. The strange thing about the email it
sounded like my previous phone call with the finder but the name was
different and now the person expressing concern about the meteorite was
working with a large University in meteorite studies. At this point I
was starting to doubt any of this was true . I decided to contact the
University and was surprised to find out that they never had worked
with or heard of this person.

I still thought that this could be true and waited for the meteorite to
arrive ! I received a phone call from the finder the day before the
meteorite was to arrive expressing ebay prices and possibly not wanting
to sell the meteorite . From the prices on Ebay this could be worth
thousands of dollars! Yeh right! Finding someone to classify it and all
the time involved, you could make Millions!

When I opened the box I could see rust fragments inside the bag that
was protecting the meteorite. Still anything is possible! Lying in a
limestone formation for millions of yeras that was once the bottom of
the ocean. I wonder if that deep sea fishing pole I dropped over the
side of the boat last year will last that long?

After cutting and etching the meteorite. it appears to be a Coarse
Octahedrite with silicate inclusions.

I really can not prove that he did not find this meteorite or if it is
a Campo or Nantan. The purpose of this post is to help anyone who may
come across this meteorite. I placed a few pictures of the meteorite
and cut face on my web page.

Thanks,
Sonny

http://www.nevadameteorites.com/id33.htm
Received on Sat 23 Aug 2008 04:26:36 PM PDT