[meteorite-list] Collateral Damage.

From: Jim Wooddell <jimwooddell_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2011 09:04:36 -0700
Message-ID: <CAH_zgwGQQk2W1muQ3RqQAUNWdNV6Nr-pfi2Fai0yT0o74z3BVg_at_mail.gmail.com>

Good morning all!

Living somewhat near Quartzsite, AZ., I hear stories like this often.
There are many people from all over the place that come to Quartzsite
annually to scam people. These people are good at what they do and
have scammed some pretty smart cookies.

As Yoda would say, "Of the buyer a scam usually involves ignorance on
the part. Herh herh herh".

Crime rate goes up and often you see these folks cruising the alley's
looking for something easy to rip off. They actually put on a good
song and dance show which includes their families.
It is a way life for some of these folks. They choose it. It's
possible Count just met some of them???

I visit Quartzsite ever year to walk around and check out the stuff.
I made a video of it this year and filmed every rock dealer there that
had meteorites. It is on my web site. Unless I missed someone, all
the dealers there selling meteorites were legit with real meteorites.
The only meteor-wrong in the whole place was in a fixed year round
store that had a show case inside of the store filled with meteorites.
 They were not selling, only displaying and the manger was informed.
That rock is in my video.
Wendy and I had the pleasure of holding some really nice meteorites.
And, we met "Stan the Man" there as well. 26 years ago we use to walk
the entire Quartzsite event! Now, we drive from spot to spot and then
walk around!! ;)

To the best of my knowledge, this year dealers had more meteorites to
sell than ever before. I suppose this is a good thing for the dealers
that get out and hustle. Good for them!! However, they really needed
more variety. Lots of Gold Basin and Canyon Diablo and a very few
others. I hope this continues to grow, and I am thinking it will!

I've very much enjoyed Watching the Meteorite Men on TV. I have yet
see them make any attempt at steering anyone the wrong way. And, they
do make attempts at some education about meteorites....I think, in
every show, Geoff or Steve explain something about a meteorite.
Shoot, Laurence Garvey has even been on their show talking about
meteorites. If people don't listen, can't blame the show, thats for
sure!
It sure causes hunting withdrawals watching someone else on TV finding
meteorites!

I do not think the Count's encounter is uncommon. I think over time
he'll see some more of this sort of thing! Good job at checking it
out. I've learned to try and keep some folks away from my house tho!

Kind Regards,

Jim Wooddell




On Sun, Jul 3, 2011 at 8:09 AM, Bob King <nightsky55 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> I don't have cable and haven't seen the Meteorite Men programs, but
> perhaps we could suggest an episode to Steve and Geoff on how to tell
> fake meteorites from real ones, meteorite look-alikes, learning how
> best to tell them apart on eBay and the like. Members of the list
> could even contribute pictures or Meteorite Men could visit the homes
> of a couple list members who have the best meteorwrong collections. I
> could even see them doing interviews with several people who bought
> fake meteorites. I think the consumer would find a show like this very
> interesting. In the long run, it would help those ignorant of
> meteorites get a more realistic view of their rarity as well as to
> learn to exercise some caution. Of course, maybe they've already done
> a program like this, I don't know. Just a thought.
> Bob
>
>
>>> May I share an experience I had yesterday afternoon that saddened me and left me questioning the merits of sensationalizing the trade in meteorites.
>>>
>>> I recently began inserting a free ?announcement in a nationally read online list stating simply that "I BUY METEORITES". Included in the announcement are some simple qualifying tests that I hope will weed out most of the "wrongs". I advise that if it turns out that you have a meteorite I will charge you $25.00 for the initial examination and I will help you get it confirmed and classified if you wish. If the find is terrestrial I will not charge any fee and I will suggest you get a second opinion.
>>>
>>> Well, this has worked out pretty well. I've had a half dozen calls in the last six weeks and several of those have resulted in "finds". One particular 100 gram individual has already been classified as a rare type and I was able to secure a nice slice for my collection.
>>>
>>> Then this happened. I received a call from a young woman who said she was in a neighboring State and had traded all she had for over a hundred pounds of "irons" and wanted to know how much were they "going for". She used a few meteoritical terms to proudly describe her acquisitions, but I could tell she had gotten whatever she had learned from whatever source a bit wrong. She talked fast and excitedly saying her meteorites were "really heavy and magnetic". She insisted she had studied and knew they were meteorites. All of them.
>>>
>>> She went on to say that she had sold her fifth wheel trailer in Quartsite, Arizona and the man who bought it was a "rock dealer" and had suggested she trade everything in the travel trailer for these "meteorites". She now wanted to cash in and would I be interested. She said she would meet me in a few days, but low and behold she arrived the next afternoon.
>>>
>>> Now picture this. It was 112 degrees when she and her husband and five kids, ages three months to thirteen, arrive in a beat up Chevy truck with all their possessions stacked up in the back. And no air conditioning. After I dispensed bottles of water and got the tribe into the shade, she excitedly announced let's look at the meteorites and ordered her quiet and unassuming husband to lug the boxes and briefcases out from under the stroller and baby food into my garage.
>>>
>>> The instant the first of the samples were lovingly laid out on my bench it was apparent to me they were terrestrial rocks. She had at least fifty pounds of "slag" and even large and small chunks of basalt and sandstone. She picked up the rocks one after the other for me to admire while all the while chattering inanely about how they were "stony iron" or "irons" and pointing out features to prove her identification and get me interested.
>>>
>>> I finally stopped her selling pitch by recommending we cut a few. I cut a dozen of the best prospects which all turned out to be terrestrial. I decided I would have to tell her as tactfully as I could. I went and selected some "rights" and "wrongs" from my collection and proceeded to teach a little meteorite identification 101. It didn't take long for her to realize that she didn't have any meteorites.
>>>
>>> I told her how sorry I was, and that I wanted her to have meteorites, and would have been pleased to do business with her. But it unfortunately wasn't the case. She and her husband looked stricken. She said " I gave everything we had." I mentioned that she should not take my opinion and get a second opinion. I suggested some other collectors and dealers. I also gave her the URLs for a couple illustrated meteor identification sites.
>>>
>>> After we had loaded the rocks back in the bed of the pickup I asked how she had become aware of the desirability of meteorites and where did she get her "off the wall" ideas of their value. She said she had watched most of the episodes of "Meteorite Men".
>>>
>>> This little drama says something....I have my own opinion....anyone else like to opine?
>>>
>>> Count Deiro
>>> IMCA 3536 ?MetSoc
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
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Received on Sun 03 Jul 2011 12:04:36 PM PDT