[meteorite-list] 8th Aniversary

From: Michael Blood <mlblood_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2011 18:58:59 -0700
Message-ID: <C9B3E7F3.180DF%mlblood_at_cox.net>

In Memory of what is the most significant hammer fall in written history
(With more documented specific items struck than any other)
Please see the article below from a few pages of my soon to be released
Book well over 300 pages long, in eBook format:

METEORITE MARKET TRENDS 1997 through 2010.


       METEORITE MARKET TRENDS
       by Michael Blood
       May 2003
 
Park Forrest.
 
This L5 Impact Melt Breccia dominated the meteorite market in April 2003.
Falling in the late, late evening of March 26th in a the suburb of Chicago
known as Park Forest, and extending into a few neighboring areas, this fall
generated meteorite madness like no other before it.
 
The list was abuzz with postings by Steve Arnold of Chicago ? with something
to say?. his home town, Chicago, had been pelted with meteorites the night
before. And pelted is a good description, as these specimens bashed the hell
out of several structures and dug themselves deep into lawns and shattered
upon impacting the streets. The word "fall" does not describe the velocity
required for the impact force of these meteorites.
 
Within 24 hrs, meteorite dealers had descended in number upon the locale of
the fall. Within 2 days the place was crawling with meteorite dealers,
collectors, hunters.
 
Now, make no mistake, this meteorite is a significant fall by virtue of its
typology, alone, being an impact melt L5! When's the last time you ran into
one of those? Does Cat Mountain ring a bell?
 
As if that weren't enough, then try the fact that no other meteorite I am
aware of has "hammered" so many man made structures in the last two
centuries, including, but not limited to homes, cars, tow trucks, baseball
stands and park playground equipment ? and those are just some of the
ones verified with affidavits.
 
Now, to top it all off, imagine half the Tucson contingent falling upon this
neighborhood and running amok for well over a week, wheeling, dealing and,
in some cases, outbidding one another to get their hands on the stuff. As if
that weren't enough, the police followed up issuing these comments:
 
Park Forest Police Chief Robert G. Maeyama said Friday. "We're advising
people not to be in a big hurry to sell them. Take a step back and consider
that these are very special objects, and don't take an offer from people who
are trying to buy anything and everything for very little money." (Chicago
Tribune, 3-29-03)
 
But, it doesn't end there folks?. then you get local gangs who start ripping
off younger kids who have found stones, you get people finding specimens,
realizing more is being paid if they hit something, so, they start throwing
their finds into their own cars?.. the shenanigans go on almost
endlessly. And all this is before we find out it is an impact melt breccia!
Can you imagine what would have happened had everyone known of the
rarity of typology in the first days after the fall?
 
So, the meteorite market was, understandably DOMINATED in April with
sales of Park Forest. And a truly stunning meteorite it is, too. Initial
rumors of huge quantities of material soon proved to be wrong (some dealers
actually TURNED AWAY finders wanting $1/g the first day if their
fragments had "insufficient" fusion crust!). There was, however, enough
found that it at least did not turn out to be highly scarce. While I have
heard no estimates of total weight, it is at least double digit pounds if
not tens of kilos. The unofficial champion hunter, in terms of numbers of
finds: Steve Arnold of Arkansas.
 
April saw material being sold in a huge range of prices, from a very few
frags going the first week for as little as $17/g to someone in the field
paying $60/g! Now, that doesn't even include the hammer stones that
nailed man made objects. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on
perspective, no cats, dogs, people, horses, cows or hamsters were struck
in the fall ? but other targets were nailed mercilessly ? from the yellow
line in the road to the Garza "Wrecking Ball" that crashed through the
roof and ceiling and tore a young boy's room to shreds. (Rob Elliot got well
over a hundred grams of various fragments of this most choice of all
stones).
 
The Hupes teamed with Al Lang to purchase the entire ROOM, ceiling,
window, etc. from the Garza home and will create a traveling exhibit
much like the Peekskill car.
 
 Besides the extremes in prices, the majority of material, not counting the
hammers, has sold rapidly for between $25 and $45 per gram, depending on
multiple factors such as weathering, fusion crust, cut slices vs frags vs
whole stones, dealer from whom one purchases, etc.
 
I have heard NO ONE complain about the material they have purchased,
regardless of the what price they may have paid or the form of their
specimen. Everyone is tickled pink with this fall, which comes in everything
from nearly solid black to a light turquoise aquamarine hue to "spider
webbed."
 
       Personally, I have found myself purchasing several specimens, as one
or two just doesn't do this stuff justice, it is so very varied. [I have
since acquired 11 different fragments of different specific hammer stones
from this fall ? and one termite documented to have been killed by the
Garza Home hammer] the One of my favorite is a 99% fusion crusted oriented
whole stone under 10 grams that Steve Arnold of Arkansas was kind enough
to sell me, then several slices showing varying aspects of this incredible
material.
 
       I can certainly see why the market was dominated by this fabulous
fall. This thing was like Holbrook and Peekskill combined, with the
technology of the internet to bring it all into our own homes?. is that
cool, or what?!
 
       Until next time? HAPPY HUNTING! Michael
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                   
67
Received on Sat 26 Mar 2011 09:58:59 PM PDT