[meteorite-list] Someone else is trying to sell a fake lunar..

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:58:21 -0400
Message-ID: <AANLkTikprI4ssQ4H0OWIkJ0RBwIebsLE7gcjhgP_ue0r_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Gang,

If I am not mistaken, somebody already went after this guy before and
reported him to eBay - which is what prompted him to show up on
SkyRock with a chip (terrestrial) on his shoulder. eBay, as usual,
won't do much of anything, regardless of what evidence is presented,
because until a sale takes place, there is no fraud - like Carl said,
the auction wording is very tricky and avoids flatly stating that the
piece is lunar. But the seller certainly implies, rather strongly and
multiple times, that the specimen is a lunar. If I recall correctly,
I think this seller knows full well what he is doing and he is a
character of sorts - his offerings are a strange form of "performance
art" and I think he relishes this activity which seems like a game in
some way - I'm guessing at his motives here. Because if I think he
was an outright fraudster, he would charge a more attainable price and
increase his chances of making a sale - at these astronomical prices,
nobody is going to buy it.

I cannot speak for Dr. Korotev, but he is actively involved in
research and probably doesn't have the time to chase down all of these
bogus lunaites and the lunies who offer them. I think he has his
hands full with Goran Lindfors and the endless stream of spam emails
with dozens of photo attachments - which I also get from time to time.

Best regards,

MikeG


On 6/27/10, cdtucson at cox.net <cdtucson at cox.net> wrote:
> The way the ad reads he never claims it IS a lunar rock. In fact he clearly
> states that it is a "possible" lunar rock. He uses lots of words like Seems
> to, could mean, may have, Wouldn't you say, It will take tests Many tests,
> visually pair.
> I am in no way a believer in this guy but, he has broken no laws here. His
> price seems a bit high.
> He is offering a rock that he thinks looks like the dhofar Lunars. Many Many
> Many rocks look like that. They cannot all be Lunars though.
> Wonder if he has any bridges for sale?
> --
> Carl or Debbie Esparza
> Meteoritemax
>
>
> ---- Warren Sansoucie <warren3174 at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hello List,
>>
>> What concerns me is how he appears to have a small following of folks
>> that want to agree with him. He is trying political tactics by smearing
>> those that question authenticity. He is calling people elitist if they
>> question, thereby trying to divert attention from the fact he is pedaling
>> an obvious earth rock.
>>
>> My concern comes in when he decides to drop his prices to an attainable
>> rate and one of these folks that agree with him get burned.
>>
>> I wonder if he realizes that if someone buys his rocks at that price with
>> those claims, he could end up in jail for fraud. Ebay has policies in
>> place. Has anyone filed anything with eBay regarding the auction? All it
>> takes is a geologist to sent a note to eBay and they will more than likely
>> pull the auction down.
>>
>> Where's Randy at? Doesn't he have time to chase down the kooks?? :P j/k
>>
>> Warren Sansoucie
>> IMCA #3174
>> St. Louis MO
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------
>> > Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2010 09:17:21 -0400
>> > From: meteoritemike at gmail.com
>> > To: miss_meteorite at yahoo.ca
>> > CC: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>> > Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Someone else is trying to sell a fake
>> > lunar..
>> >
>> > Hi Melanie and List,
>> >
>> > This guy has been at it for a long time. He comes and goes, offering
>> > dubious meteorwrongs.
>> >
>> > He showed up on Skyrock several months ago and threw a pissy fit
>> > because people were rightfully questioning his offerings. He
>> > threatened legal action and tried to point fingers at everyone else.
>> > Needless to say, no legal action happened and he crawled back under
>> > his rock for a while.
>> >
>> > If this stone is a lunar, then I have a box full of lunars worth
>> > billions of dollars - I find at least one of these identical stones
>> > every time I go to the beach.
>> >
>> > It's obvious that this guy is smoking crack and chasing it with LSD.
>> >
>> > BTW - notice how he offers local pickup and says he won't ship the
>> > item - a new twist, which is probably to avoid mail fraud charges.
>> >
>> > Best regards,
>> >
>> > MikeG
>> >
>> >
>> > On 6/27/10, Melanie Matthews wrote:
>> >> http://cgi.ebay.com/Possible-USA-match-Dhofar-lunar-meteorite-breccias-/360255954084?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e0ed9ca4
>> >>
>> >> "Possible USA match for Dhofar Lunar Breccias"
>> >> *Rolleyes*
>> >>
>> >> -----------
>> >> Melanie
>> >> IMCA: 2975
>> >> eBay: metmel2775
>> >> Known on SkyRock Cafe as SpaceCollector09
>> >>
>> >> Unclassified meteorites are like a box of chocolates... you never know
>> >> what
>> >> you're gonna get!
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> ______________________________________________
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>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites
>> > http://www.galactic-stone.com
>> > http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
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-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites
http://www.galactic-stone.com
http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone
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Received on Sun 27 Jun 2010 12:58:21 PM PDT