[meteorite-list] Question For The List ???? WHO IS THE BEST ANDMOST SUCCESSFUL METEORITE HUNTER OUT THERE?

From: michael cottingham <mikewren_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:13:55 -0700
Message-ID: <833D18A2-45CE-4CFB-9543-DEBC1BA1CD98_at_gilanet.com>

Hello,

Actually, Nininger DID NOT personally find that many meteorites. His
recoveries through his other efforts allowed him to recover thousands
of pounds of meteorites, but he the man/individual-personally did not
find that many. I have read ALL his books, many, many times. In fact,
I usually take a copy of Find A Falling Star with me to read when I am
in the field.

Nininger is great for a lot of reasons and I hold him in the highest
of all regards. However, if you look through the British Catalog of
Meteorites, you will find very few meteorites that were actually found
by him. I do not remember how many exactly (maybe 2). Nininger and
meteorite recoveries are a different story. He recovered through the
efforts of his teachings, lectures, and other people looking for him -
tons of meteorites.

One of the few meteorites that Nininger personally found was Puente-
Ladron in Socorro County, New Mexico. Nininger's arch rival Lincoln
LaPaz stated that Nininger transported the meteorite there. Lapaz
hated Nininger, so much that he wrote many papers with out right lies
about Nininger.

Yes, Nininger recovered a lot of Plainview and Toluca. However, I am
not sure if he personally found any?? Someone want to tally up the
personal finds of Nininger-that would be great.


Best Wishes

Michael Cottingham



On Jul 16, 2009, at 3:13 PM, al mitt wrote:

> Greetings List,
>
> Not sure where this idea that Harvey Nininger wasn't a meteorite
> hunter came from but it is wrong. He was a meteorite hunter, he
> chased falls, plotted areas they fell in and went to those areas to
> search. He also hunted in areas that he was in. He did that while
> hunting for scrap metal during world war 2. He was effective at
> getting people to look for him. I would say that is using your head
> so more specimens could be found and using people that were familiar
> with the land to hunt those areas. When Norton County fell, Nininger
> was standing on top of the meteorite when Lincoln LaPaz and his
> friend arrived and looked down to see Nininger already there. Don't
> tell me that hunters these days don't get local people to hunt and
> go back to buy later. Sure they hunt themselves but getting others
> to help expedites finds.
>
> One would have to define what a meteorite hunter is (as mentioned
> already in this thread). Just because it doesn't fit your definition
> doesn't mean that hunting in a specific way is wrong or excludes you
> as a hunter. People making the claim that Nininger wasn't a hunter,
> haven't read all his books and don't know the extreme efforts he
> went to finding new specimens. He often went back to areas and
> conducted hunts while also approaching people who might know
> something about a find or fall. Plainview, Texas is one area that he
> hunted extensively finding more specimens to collect and trade. He
> went into Mexico chasing down leads which were pretty risky back then.
>
> One also has to remember the time and conditions in which Harvey
> Nininger hunted. He hunted in the depression era but was still able
> to persuade investors to buy into his hunts. Transportation was not
> good back then. Lots of dirt roads and hazards along the way while
> driving his model T. Patching tires in deep mud. Making it three or
> four hundred miles was tough. Flying back then was expensive and not
> real common. There were no interstate roads that you could jump in
> your car and drive 700 miles a day easily.
>
> Metal detectors weren't as effective and bulky. People were very
> cautious of strangers in their towns and on their ranches and farms.
> Harvey mentioned that for every successful trip, there were dozens
> of other trips that didn't pan out. He wasn't eager to mention the
> trips that weren't successful. If he found or was able to have
> others help him find over 222 new finds or falls and over a thousand
> meteorite specimens, he certainly picked up a number of meteorite
> specimens himself. Multiply 222 times a dozen or two (trips or leads
> that weren't successful) and you have nearly 5,000 to 6,000 trips
> and hunts. Divide by a forty year span of time and you have about
> 125 trips or hunts a year! How many trips are people making these
> days using modern transportation? Nininger would often and smartly
> combine trips but that is still a lot of hunting in my book.
>
> Nininger used Farington's book on meteorites 1915 to hunt down old
> strewnfields. I'll try to dig up some of his personal finds and post
> them here when time permits. Saying Harvey Nininger wasn't hardly a
> meteorite hunter shows a great deal of ignorance and such people
> making claims should read some of his books he wrote to educate
> themselves. Best!
>
> --AL Mitterling
>
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Received on Thu 16 Jul 2009 09:13:55 PM PDT