[meteorite-list] Lorton Meteorite

From: Meteorites USA <eric_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:04:36 -0700
Message-ID: <4D83ACC4.7020404_at_meteoritesusa.com>

So basically, IF this Washington Post article is accurate in it's
reporting, the landowners dropped the case after getting portrayed as
the bad guys in the media by the Doctors who had a free lawyer, no legal
fees, and they played the media game. I have to say the Doctors played
the game well, it got turned into a PR war, and they won. So this case
NEVER went anywhere legally? The actual issue of legal ownership is
still not resolved.

Regards,
Eric



On 3/18/2011 11:22 AM, JoshuaTreeMuseum wrote:
>
> The landlords got outlawyered:
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/whatever-happened-to-the-lorton-meteorite-/2011/03/04/AB14tMq_story.html
>
>
>
> By Neely Tucker, Sunday, March 20, 11:42 AM
> When last we heard, Everybody's Favorite Meteorite was locked up in
> legal limbo.
>
> The oblong little rock from outer space lighted up the late afternoon
> sky across Washington on Jan. 18, 2010, and rocketed into a doctors'
> office in Lorton. Moving at a leisurely 200 mph, it crashed into
> examination room No. 2 in the Williamsburg Square Family Practice,
> even though it did not have an appointment.
>
> The startled (but unhurt) doctors, Marc Gallini and Frank Ciampi,
> donated it to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History,
> which houses the world's largest collection of meteorites.
>
> But then their landlords said not so fast: The 2-by-3-inch visitor
> from the asteroid belt was estimated to be worth at least $50,000 on
> the earth-bound meteorite market, in part because of its dramatic and
> well-documented entrance. Thousands of people saw its fireball descent
> (the museum has a photograph of the vapor trail), and radar sweeps
> documented its path across the region.
>
> The landlords demanded its return. Gallini said of their behavior: "It
> isn't nice." Legal wrangling ensued.
>
> We are delighted, a year later, that there is a happy ending.
>
> The landlords eventually dropped their claims, the Smithsonian gave
> the doctors $10,000 for the Lorton meteorite (its formal name) in
> early February, and the physicians donated the check to the charity
> Doctors Without Borders last week. Linda Welzenbach, the meteorite
> collection manager at the Smithsonian, says it will soon be on public
> display, though no date has been set.
>
> "We are very happy that it's staying at the Smithsonian," Gallini
> says. "We felt that where it's belonged since the beginning."
>
> Deniz Mutlu, a member of the family that owns the building, said his
> only issue with events was that "we got portrayed as the bad guys."
>
> "All we wanted to do was donate it to a different institution
> (Phillips Exeter Academy, in New Hampshire), where my wife attended
> school," he said. "The doctors wanted to litigate. They had pro bono
> counsel. We just let it go."
>
> The meteorite, which existed for about 4.5 billion years floating
> around between Mars and Jupiter, now spends its time in a little
> plastic box deep in the Mason-Clarke Meteorite Vault in the
> Smithsonian. It has thousands of other little asteroid friends,
> including three from Mars, to keep it company.
>
> Holding the Lorton meteorite with blue latex gloves, Welzenbach smiled.
>
> "It's going to stay here where everyone can see it."
>
> CURIOUS? Tell us what past Washington Post story or person in the news
> you want us to update. E-mail trents at washpost.com or call 202.334.4208.
>
>
>
> ------------
>
> Phil Whitmer
>
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Received on Fri 18 Mar 2011 03:04:36 PM PDT