[meteorite-list] Claimed pairings

From: Bob Loeffler <bobl_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:49:46 -0600
Message-ID: <EF2ED64B4CFB4C63820AF18CCDF3993C_at_dell>

> Your analogy about finding a body with a bullet in the head argues against
you. Yes, of course you wait for the autopsy. Anything less is NOT science.

I agree with Richard. The police, district attorney and medical examiner
will never assume (at least in the US) that the bullet in the head killed
the person. An autopsy will always be required because this usually
indicates foul play (aka murder). How many times have we seen that the
bullet didn't kill the person? Lots of times. Maybe that was done to throw
the authorities off from the real cause, like slow poisoning over a 6-month
period by a pissed off wife. :-)

If something doesn't stand up to scientific scrutiny (or never even tested),
then it's just more BS and somebody will get away with murder (or fraud in
the case of meteorite buying/selling).

Regards,

Bob


-----Original Message-----
From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Richard
Kowalski
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 5:38 PM
To: meteorite list
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Claimed pairings

Carl,

I did not refer to any particular pairing claim.

Your analogy about finding a body with a bullet in the head argues against
you. Yes, of course you wait for the autopsy. Anything less is NOT science.

Believe what and who you want, but that doesn't make it scientific fact.

Claiming a pairing, just because material if found near by is not science
either. Period.

The meteorite market is very thin and is based on trust. For my money
(literally) I want legitimate scientific proof to stand with the meteorites
in my collection. Third party emails carry no weight whatsoever.

Have a pairing? Show me the peer reviewed scientific paper proving your
claim. Pretty simple and straight forward.

To reiterate a quote from the 1980's "Trust, but verify."
I'll add that if you can't verify, there is no reason to trust.

Show me the lab results that show the claimed paired material is EXACTLY the
same as the original and I'll gladly plunk down my hard earned funds.

This is a much greater problem than a single claim too. If the trust is lost
that the material, any material, might not be what is claimed, I'm certainly
not going to be buying it, or any more meteorites in the future. I mentioned
other collectibles that hold my interest in a post yesterday. I can just as
easily spend my money buying those items as I can meteorites. If you want to
see the collectible meteorite market collapse, because all trust in the
material being exactly what it is claimed to be with no ambiguity, go ahead
and allow scientifically unsubstantiated claims continue unabated.

--
Richard Kowalski
Full Moon Photography
IMCA #1081

Received on Sat 19 Jun 2010 03:49:46 PM PDT