[meteorite-list] West Texas meteorite fall

From: Michael Farmer <meteoriteguy_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:25:28 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <357055.31734.qm_at_web110615.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>

Check out this piece I found today;)

http://img232.imageshack.us/my.php?image=birdnestxq6.jpg


Hi everyone. Sorry for the attempts to write emails from my IPHONE. Not the easiest thing to do while walking through the pasture, looking for meteorites.

Here is a short note about what we know.
When the meteorite fell, a farmer was working near his barn and saw the explosion and fireball in the sky. He said that a few seconds later, stones started falling out of the sky, and he ran into the metal barn to escape the falling rocks. He heard pieces hitting the metal roof. A minute later, he went out and started picking up the black burned rocks.
It seems they told a couple of family members but wanted to keep it to themselves as they do not like outsiders and hate the government. Don't forget, this is WACO, Branch Dividian nut-job country, so people seem to be a little odd here.
Anyway, word did get out and Robert Ward, Moritz Karl, Robert Woolard and his son Rob, Shauna (Robert's girlfriend and meteorite-huntress extraordinaire) and myself had been working on this fall since a few hours after it occurred. We narrowed down the fall site as West, Texas. We were right on, within 20 minutes of arriving at West, we located the farm, spoke to the landowners, got permission to hunt, and then minutes later got evicted from the land, as the people did not like so many people arriving at once. It scared them.
We promptly got permission to hunt on surrounding properties and Moritz within seconds found a meteorite. This is what was all over the news yesterday. We all hunted today, in numerous places, trying to extend the strewn field out, which we did by about 1 km only. Of course, the strewn-field must be very large, but it will take some days to get a hit further afield I think.
This morning I found a nice piece, pictured above in an opportune pose:) and very quickly Robert Ward and the Woolard?s both found pieces, then I found another.
As far as I know, I would say at least 20 stones have been found, all under 50 grams. This is just the beginning, larger stones are there, but further afield, waiting to be saved. And saved in about two weeks or less, as the grass is growing right now, turning green and the farmers are all getting ready to plow and plant. Anything not found right now will be lost, and I mean all of it. There is virtually no hunting ground that is not plowed farmland.

Anyway, things are good, we are all tired, sunburned, chapped, cut up, and extremely happy to be on a successful meteorite hunt days after the long Tucson show. Who would have imagined.
Michael Farmer
Received on Thu 19 Feb 2009 10:25:28 PM PST