[meteorite-list] The Trials and Tribulations in Dealing with Landowners

From: Dave Gheesling <dave_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2011 12:11:04 -0500
Message-ID: <2D2B53BCD21D473E8862DAF259DF2F2C_at_meteorroom>

Hiya Jeff,

Generally speaking, I'm also offended by the destruction of
meteorites...period. But not because of the commercial gain motive, per se.
Darryl is exactly right that every faction of the meteorite community has
benefited from the recovery incentive.

Mike's point that the Admire pallasite, and not Brenham, has been the object
of this initiative is also important. While he and others have apparently
made substantial improvements in the preservation of such "rust buckets" (I
don't mean this to be a derogatory term...it is what it is), it's doubtful
that the expenses associated with hunting this strewn field would have been
a reasonable investment without a plan such as the commercial crystal
faceting. To that end, one might argue that either the meteorites would
still be in the ground or crystals would be commercially available...most
likely, anyway.

I'm one of the last members of the meteorite community that likes to see
meteorites cut at all, but sometimes it does make sense -- for a lot of
reasons.

However, there are times when history has evidently been rewritten for
commercial benefit, and this seems a much bigger shame than the mining of
crystals from a highly unstable matrix. If a young girl were to find a
freshly-fallen meteorite, hypothetically speaking, it would be nice to see
her get proper credit and exposure for the same...rather than to see that
wonderful version of the story swept under the rug in the name of commercial
and/or self-promotion. There are defining moments when it comes to
expanding the awareness of the meteorite arena to the general public (and to
the next generation of potential meteoriticists), and hopefully the true
magic of those moments will shine more and more often as time unfolds. Who
knows? Maybe that shine will indeed come from Selena Gomez ;-)

All best,

Dave
www.fallingrocks.com

-----Original Message-----
From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Jeff
Grossman
Sent: Monday, February 21, 2011 7:42 AM
To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] The Trials and Tribulations in Dealing with
Landowners

Why don't we discuss the real issue with this thread? Is nobody else
offended by the idea of destroying meteorites for commercial gain?

I do realize that the scientific value of Brenham pallasites is extremely
low. Many hundreds of kg are held by museums, so chances are that the
destruction by dealers of a few hundred kg more to extract the olivine will
not result in irreversible harm to science.

But what if some cult placed a high value on ritually consuming
Martian/lunar meteorites or angrites, or CAIs, and the price for powdered
meteorites skyrocketed? Would it be ethical to destroy these meteorites for
profit? And, are such practices harmful, in the long-run, to both science
and the avocation of meteorite collecting?

A large part of the tension between the scientific and collector
communities, including the creation of much-reviled export and ownership
laws in some countries, arises from the perception that national scientific
treasures are being lost. This sort of practice by dealers could make the
situation so much worse.

Jeff


On 2/21/2011 5:59 AM, JoshuaTreeMuseum wrote:
> The space gems need to be marketed to high profile fashionistas like
> Lady GaGa, Kendra, Paris Hilton and the Kardashians. With Kim and
> Khloe flashing those babies as they hobnob with the crowned heads of
> Europe, the demand will grow like wildfire. Soon every rock star and
> Hollywood actor will want one. Justin Beiber will pierce his nose to
> sport a space jewel! Elton John will have them set in a fancy-dancy
> pair of specs. Steve will be out of debt in no time.
>
> ------------------------
>
> Phil Whitmer
> ______________________________________________
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Received on Mon 21 Feb 2011 12:11:04 PM PST