[meteorite-list] Mifflin, Amiss
From: al mitt <almitt_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 8 May 2011 07:54:04 -0400 Message-ID: <D5CE51ED0DB14600A4DA6524061D5F92_at_StarmanPC> Greetings, With Jason running down all the details of these questionable specimens, this is one that was found out. Now how many have not been found out??? --AL Mitterling ----- Original Message ----- From: "Linton Rohr" <lintonius at earthlink.net> To: "Shawn Alan" <photophlow at yahoo.com>; <jasonutas at gmail.com> Cc: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2011 3:29 AM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Mifflin, Amiss > Ahoy there, Jason, Shawn and list. > Intriguing situation, Jason. Thanks for sharing. > And like you Shawn, I'm glad I got my beautiful little slice from Joe. I > didn't see all that much "drama" in it, though. He put in a lot of work, > and found enough to be able to both keep some and sell enough to feed his > family. That's just plain cool, in my book. Thanks Joe! > Linton > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Shawn Alan" <photophlow at yahoo.com> > To: <jasonutas at gmail.com> > Cc: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> > Sent: Saturday, May 07, 2011 8:38 PM > Subject: [meteorite-list] Mifflin, Amiss > > > Jason and Listers, > > > This is a very interesting post in the since I have to say something > doesn't add up. One an anonymous finder contacts Carl and has him send > cash to a PO box..... Red flag. Two the phone number is disconnected..... > Three the transaction was done in cash. I have to say with those three > elements this would have to be a scam, someone got had. If this was a > legit sale wouldn't it have been done in the correct ways via pay pal not > some undercover 007 style, sending cash in the mail to a PO BOX? > > As for testing goes, cant Carl Agee do a terrestrial age analysis and also > have a cre done which can prove or disprove this theory that someone is > suggesting that Mifflin has two litholgies, which I have to say isnt the > case and that these stones are not related to Mifflin in anyway from the > evidence presented by Jason. > > Now the question is who was the scammer. I have to assume that one this > scammer knew what they were doing and somehow was or is connected to the > meteorite collecting world or they are really smart and picked up how to > scam meteorite hunter 101. First of all they knew of Carl, two they knew > of the fall, three, they knew of what a freshly fallen meteorite looks > like and four the meteorite in question is a real meteorite but not from > the same fall. > > I think the scammer is one of us or is connected to one of us just because > of the circumstances of the event and that the meteorite is a real > meteorite and has fusion crust. If it was a non meteoritest, I think it > would have been a stone, but this was not the case it was a real meteorite > in the mists of being a fake Mifflin. This is to good to be done by some > non meteorite collector but again people are getting smarter these days to > make some cash. But this means that this scammer would have to buy a real > meteorite to turn around to sell as a fake recent meteorite fall. > > All I can say is if I came into this situation I would have thought the > sale would have been a scam right from the start with me sending money to > a PO box. Also I am glad I didn't buy this stuff I was able to buy some > from Joe Kerchner which that had some drama in its self as well. > > My 2 cents > > Shawn Alan > IMCA 1633 > eBaystore > http://shop.ebay.com/photophlow/m.html > > > > > > > > [meteorite-list] Mifflin, Amiss > jason utas jasonutas at gmail.com > Sat May 7 21:12:16 EDT 2011 > > Previous message: [meteorite-list] Where is everyone? Facebook? > Next message: [meteorite-list] Mifflin, Amiss > Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Hello All, > > My story begins in the summer of last year. I saw some strange pieces > of 'Mifflin' on ebay that I thought looked funny. People were talking > about the meteorite having two lithologies, but...the slices and > individuals that I saw looked 'off.' A select few looked like > H-chondrites, and they had the telltale signs of wear that > freshly-imported Moroccan falls bear: worn edges, exposed metal flakes > on protruding corners (where the fusion crust had been worn off due to > improper packing), etc. > > At the time, I did nothing but send a private email to Anne Black > notifying her of my suspicions. I spoke with some other prominent > list-members addressing it, and they all agreed that the material > looked funny, but that nothing could be done about it given the > required burden of proof. > > So, I sat on my hands for several months. > > Just over a month ago, I saw a piece of the funny-looking 'Mifflin' on > ebay. It looked similar to some pieces that I remembered seeing on > ebay months before, and, being an end-cut, I was able to see both the > stone's funny-looking inside -- and the apparent metal grains on the > stone's exterior. > > I used the 'buy-it-now' option to purchase the end-cut, and it > arrived while Peter and I were in Morocco. When we returned, I > promptly shipped the end-cut off to Tony Irving of the University of > Washington; he agreed to analyze the stone posthaste. > > The results came back, but Tony wanted to wait until the probe was > recallibrated so that he could run it again to be sure. > > Lo and behold, he did confirm that my end-cut was an equilibrated > H-chondrite, with an olivine Fa of 18.6. For comparison, Chergach and > Bassikounou both have Fa contents of 18.4 and 18.6, respectively. > > University of Madison, Wisconsin performed most of the work on the > Mifflin fall. Between them and the Field Museum, over twenty separate > stones were analyzed. They were all L5. Mifflin is classified as an > L5, with an Fa of ~24.9 +/- 0.2. > > I then sent Tony the link to the ebay auction so he could confirm that > the piece that he had analyzed was indeed the piece that I had sent > him. He did. > > I purchased my end-cut from Bryan Scarborough (IMCA), who purchased it > from Michael Cottingham, who purchased it from Greg Catterton (IMCA), > who purchased the stone with Carl Esparza from the finder. > > Carl told me the following story over the phone: > He was contacted "out of the blue" by someone hunting in the Mifflin > strewn-field. According to Carl, the finder stated that he thought > there was a "conspiracy against him," because no one would offer him > more than $5/g. and he believed his finds were worth more than that. > So, according to Carl, he then offered the finder $10/g, and a deal was > struck. > > But...the finder asked that he not be paid via paypal or wire > transfer; he wanted cash mailed to a P.O. Box. > > So, Carl mailed the money to the P.O. Box and the first of two 'Mifflin' > stones was over-nighted to him the next day. It should be noted that > Carl included Greg Catterton as his partner in this deal, and Greg > sent over several hundred dollars to help pay for the stones. > > Unfortunately, as Carl said over the phone, his old computer recently > died, so he lacks the name and email address of the finder, as well as > the number/address of the P.O. Box to which he sent the money. Carl > is also unwilling to share the bank receipt from the transaction which > would prove that he did make a large cash withdrawal for the stones. > I asked Carl for the finder's phone number, but he told me that he had > recently tried to call the finder, himself, only to find that the > number had been disconnected. > He was unwilling to share the number with me, regardless. > > On the phone, Carl suggested that his source had likely ripped him > off, and he said that he believed that it was the reason why he had > been asked to send the money untraceably, as he did; Carl described > the situation as a "typical scam." > > He also suggested that the stones *might* be from an unrelated fall -- > or could be the result of Mifflin being an 'Almahata Sitta sort of > fall.' > > I can't disprove either of those ideas, but they are unlikely for the > following reasons: > > 1) Almahata Sitta is a unique event in the history of meteoritics. > Different lithologies have been observed in many meteorites, but to > have individual stones of completely different and unrelated meteorite > types falling separately is unique. Out of the 1,238 accepted > observed falls in the meteoritical bulletin, only one has exhibited > individuals that have consisted of different meteorite types (for > example, H + L, Ureilite + EH, etc). > > And it's not that we haven't been looking for similar events; with > each and every fall, multiple stones are analyzed, and the simple fact > of the matter is that they are always similar...with *one* exception. > > So, Almahata Sitta is an exception. How much of an exception? 0.08% > of meteorite falls are like it. Less than a tenth of a percent. > Possible...but extremely unlikely. We also have to wonder about why > or how this hunter managed to find the only two H's from the fall that > were recognized. Over twenty other stones were studied and this > finder supposedly turned up two or three that were all H's. It's 'funny.' > > The other possibility that Carl advocated is that the stones may actually > have been found in Wisconsin -- and they may be part of a new fall that > somehow slipped under the radar. He initially suggested that they were > from the fireball widely seen across the Midwest on May 10th, but, at the > time, I had paypal records from Greg that stated that he had sent Carl the > money for the stones as early as April 24th. > So we ruled out that possibility.. > > But, I agree; the stones could theoretically have come from a > different fall. The end-cut that I bought showed no visible signs of > weathering. No oxide, no anything. Given the weather in and around > Mifflin at the time of the fall, we can assume that the stones were > picked up within a week or so of having fallen. No AMS reports of > anything in the region for the given timeframe doesn't disprove > anything since meteorites often fall without much ado, but...two falls > in the same place *at the same time?* > Granted, it's possible. Not very likely, though. > > And you've still got to wonder about why no one else found any > H-chondrites while looking for Mifflin. It's not like meteorites were > laying thickly on the ground. Everyone who found stones out there put > considerable time into hunting -- and they all found only L5's. So if > Carl's source were telling the truth, and he did find the stones, it > seems best to assume that he wasn't hunting in the Mifflin > strewn-field, because, if he were, he would 1) probably have found > L5's, and 2) other people would probably have found H's as well. > > The conclusion I draw from this is that the truth has become > well-hidden. What is certain is that I have been refunded by > Bryan, and I know for a fact that Bryan has been refunded by > Michael Cottingham, who has in turn been refunded by Greg Catterton. > > What I have heard, however, is that Carl has been defending the > legitimacy of his stones, and is refusing to refund Greg Catterton. > > Regardless of whether the material is Mifflin or another meteorite > (from Wisconsin or from NWA -- it doesn't matter), the simple fact > of the matter is that the material sold by Carl has been shown to be > different from how it was advertised, and as such, he should be > willing to accept its return for a refund. If he wishes to get it > analyzed and sell it to others as a new meteorite, that is his > concern. > > I am fairly certain that Bryan, Michael, and Greg unknowingly sold the > material as Mifflin, believing that it was indeed what they sold it > as. > > That is my 2 cents. > > Regards, > Jason Utas > > ______________________________________________ > Visit the Archives at > http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > > ______________________________________________ > Visit the Archives at > http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > Received on Sun 08 May 2011 07:54:04 AM PDT |
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