[meteorite-list] Witnessed Falls and Hammers - warning, LONG.

From: Michael Bross <element33_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 22:30:00 +0100
Message-ID: <02be01c9a0fe$342be8c0$a11c215a_at_Inspiron8200>

Hello Listers

Personally, I would love the Sikhote-Alin one which struck a Cedar tree...
It would combine 2 passions: trees and the new one, meteorites.
Just dreaming :) (if even available, it must be so much $$$...)

Good evening everyone
Michael B

PS: thanks for your website Michael Blood, I learned a lot thru it cf
Historic meteorites etc...



----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Blood" <mlblood at cox.net>
To: "Martin Altmann" <altmann at meteorite-martin.de>; "Meteorite List"
<meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 10:03 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Witnessed Falls and Hammers - warning, LONG.


Hi Martin and all,
        In my upcoming book, I will be addressing this issue
At length. However, the condensed version is: "A man
Made artifact, animal or human" leaves itself open when
It comes to streets - and even more controversial, dirt
Roads.
        It is a "personal" line one has to draw for one's self,
And not always an easy one. I struggled with a meteorite
That struck a cultivated fruit tree and if a meteorite
Were to cause a significant pit in an ancient, rock Roman
Road, would THAT make it a hammer?
        There really isn't a definitive answer to such questions.
They are, rather, matters of opinion.
        Michael Gilmer recently asked how many hammers
Other collectors have.... I believe my collection is currently
Only about 64. However, even when comparing hammer
Collections there is a big variation in coparisons. If someone
Has 75 hammers, but they are all tiny, thumbnails and
Most of mine are rather large macromounts, which collection
Is the "largest?" Then, I know a good number of people who
Have REALLY nice sized hammers of full slices or whole stones
several hundreds of grams each, whereas mine might average
Closer to 5 grams each - mostly part slices. (Like so many
Of us, my collection is influenced strongly by what I can afford).
I do have a full slice of Kunashack and a fist sized hammer
Stone that was part of the original report found on a roof in
Thuathe, but they have to go if someone offers to buy them
because my income Does not support a huge collection of $2,500
to $5,000 each per specimen (and I would certainly like to end
up with a HUGE hammer collection. I would like to have a specimen
Of every known hammer fall - actual hammer stones, each, but
Such is, for all practical purposes, impossible...)
        Then, again, some specimens cannot be
Had in larger sizes regardless of financiers, such as St. Louis,
Wethersfield '71 - and my Sylacauga would have to be
Considered "huge" even though it is an ultra thin quarter sized
Part slice - because it just cannot be had larger.
        So, what is a hammer? Again, that is a question everyone
Will answer for themselves.
        Best wishes, Michael
Received on Mon 09 Mar 2009 05:30:00 PM PDT