[meteorite-list] 4 lake bed hunt, New Lake Bed finds

From: U.S. Airborne <ontheroad_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 10:00:14 -0700
Message-ID: <42F6099B26C94127916AD72F965F8F94_at_ScottPC>

Hi All, Just a quick update from out in the field. My Wife Terri & I had to
do a biz trip to Ca to teach flying. So I made arrangements to add a few
weeks of meteorite hunting in on the trip. We started out with blizzard
conditions at lake bed #1. Two nights the temp dipped to 15 then 17 degrees.
It was snowing, then raining, then hailing on us for a few days, when out on
the hunt. Lake bed 1 was a old strune field that we worked over for 3 days.
We recovered about 3 lbs that totaled over 600 meteorite frags. Weather was
warming a bit so we moved to lake bed # 2. It was real difficult getting on
this lake bed as the snow melt was draining into it and it was nearly full
of water. We still hunted the dry edge for a day but no luck. There was lots
of evidence of native Americans living in the area . We hit the road for
lake bed #3. We had made arrangements for one of our meteorite hunting
friends to come join us at lake bed #3. once we arrived at the location #3
we found it difficult to find the correct road onto the lake bed. During
our hunt for the road out in remote NV. I had a blow out on my Kawasaki
teryx trailer. I had my lance camper on the truck , so I could not see or
feel that my trailer wheel had blown, so by the time I stopped my tire & rim
were destroyed. I had thrown in a spare off my aircraft trailer before
leaving the airpark. When I tried to change the tire I find that my spare
rim is about 1/8th inch larger. So we camp for the night on this remote
road. The next day I unhooked the trailer leaving Terri & Sundance to to
watch things. I gave Terri my 9 mm to protect herself in case any yahoos
gave her trouble. My drive to the nearest town was a wake up call. There
were no tire stores left in this town. The last one went out of biz 3 days
before I arrived into town. I did find a guy to help me put the rubber off
my rim that did not fit onto the smashed up rim. I had a sledge hammer so I
smashed the rim into better shape. Once I we got the tire on, it was still
leaking air. I beat the edge of the rim with my sledge until it stopped
leaking air. To make a long story short I had to drive about 150 miles on
this bad rim & tire to the nearest big town where I got 8 ply rubber on all
tires & two new rims. By that afternoon we were back at Lakebed #3 for the
hunt. Larry arrived also, so the next day we hunted all day long with no
finds and nearly got stuck in our 4x4 buggy on the wet lake bed. Then on day
two Larry & found the strings of gravel that we were hunting for the day
before. Within a minute or two Larry found 1 nice one then 5 min later I
found a nice complete meteorite with flow lines about 20 ft from Larry's
find. It was barely magnetic so we looked it over real good & figured it was
likely a LL or possibly even more rare. It was past lunch so we headed back
to base camp for lunch & tell Terri of our finds & bring her back after
lunch for the hunt. Once we got back from lunch & back hunting, within about
10 min I was showing Terri the string of rocks that we were going to hunt
real good. Just as I said she needs to find a nice big one, I look down &
there was a nice 60 gram specimen right in front of me. As I was documenting
my find. Terri located a real nice meteorite of her own, it was a very nice
looking meteorite with broken fusion crust & nice olivine. Then just after
Terri did here pics & GPS location about 100 yards off Larry makes a real
nice find. It was a real fresh looking rock. It was amazing as it totally
looked new. So we were on a nice finding run as we hunted the long string
of rocks that had been collecting in this area for ages. In the end on this
new lake bed Terri recovered 1 nice meteorite, Larry had 3 and I had 3. So
7 new finds at this new location was quite nice. After looking at our finds,
it looks like 4 to possibly 5 different meteorite falls. Once they get
classified then we will know for sure if our guesses are correct on types.
Larry had to head the to east & we headed west towards Ca. I was like a
Alcoholic needing a other drink . Or like a gambler that wants that one last
bet. As a meteorite hunting junky I needed just 1 more hunt. Just give me
one more & I will be O.K. to leave the lovely deserts I love so much. I knew
of other lake beds I could hunt on our way west but time was getting short.
Terri was turning into a meteorite hunting junkie also after her big 7 lb
find this last Feb in AZ. and then her 300 finds at the first strune field,
then her last find a few days back really set the hook on her meteorite
hunting life style. So with both of us now hooked on space rock hunting, we
decided we had better stop in & hunt one more lake bed for a day. I had
been to this lake bed before & found 6 small ones & 1 bigger one. But once
we arrived we found the lakebed had resurfaced and nothing was like it was
before. The location I had found meteorite before was now bare of all rocks
all together. Just in 1 winter this area totally changed. I followed some
ice rafted rocks and some other debris like old rubber tires that all got
blown across the lake bed in super strong NE winds & likely frozen lake bed.
So we followed the signs & hunted the western shore line where it all was
blown into. Within 15 min of hunting that shore I located a nice 30 gram
meteorite that feels like a H to me. Terri hunted her butt off but nothing
else reviled itself to us all morning. By noon the lakebed was a blow down &
we had to leave. It was a total white out of dust & very difficult to drive
or find our way off this now dusty mess. I found my tire tracks & followed
them off in the white out. Terri was driving the Kawasaki side by side off
& she surely ate lots of dust on her way off the lake bed. The blow down
happened very quickly & lasted for the afternoon. We are now in Ca. teaching
flying & I got to say I wish I was back hunting for flying rocks. On a great
note, my wife Terri is hooked big big time now on meteorite hunting. And I
got to say she is quite the hunter gal. Also, Larry is quite the fun &
knowing meteorite hunter & great to hunt with. Now back to important issues
in trying to figure out where to hunt on our way back home to WA State.
Happy hunting to all!
 When I get time I will post a link for photos.
Scott , Terri & Sundance Johnson
U.S. AirBorne Sport Aviation LLC
Eagles Nest Airpark
Sport Pilot C.F.I WSC-L WSC-S
www.usairborne.com
info at usairborne.com
Office 509-780-0554
Cell 509-780-8377


--------------------------------------------------
From: "Larry Atkins" <thetoprok at aol.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 9:28 AM
To: <jimwooddell at gmail.com>; <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Real or not real.

>
> Greg, Jim, List,
>
> I found something while following up on a meteorite lead, a story of a
> witnessed fall by a farmer who picked up a 25 lb. rock that supposedly
> fell
> right in front of him. Many years later the great grandson wanted to get
> the 'meteorite' but it was nowhere to be found.
> He enlisted me to search the property where the farm once stood and I
> found this enigma in about an hour. When the great grandson saw the rock
> still setting on the ground where I found it he got really excited about,
> saying that he recognized it, I had found the 'meteorite'.
>
> I almost hate to dredge this story up but it is relevant to the thread.
>
> I found the rock in 2001. Within 3 weeks of its discovery and after
> passing through
> the hands of several esteemed meteorite experts It was sent to the
> U.S.Dept. of Energy for
> Al 26 counting. It was deemed by the
> U.S. D.O.E. not a meteorite due to a lack of Al 26. When I asked what it
> was they said they did not know, they were so certain it was a
> meteorite that they tested it for 100 times less Al 26 than
> they expected to find in a
> normal meteorite but still found none. I was told that it is a rock
> unlike any they had ever seen, perhaps from Disko Island (due to its Ni
> content) but not like anything they had seen from Disko Island. Since
> then, samples of it have been archived at three different Univerities
> for 'future study' should anything arise (or fall) to justify it. My
> own amateur research indicates to me that it may possibly be some sort of
> impact
> debris, possibly related to the KT impact. Two main reasons for this
> potential conclusion are the fact that Argon dating puts it at the
> right age, 75 ma. + / - 10 million, and the fact that there are some
> unusual crystals, tiny Cr spinels with a peculiar feature that are only
> found in one other place on Earth, the KT boundary layer. Those
> crystals, (in the KT) are pseudomorphs after spinel and the dirt
> immediately adjacent to the xtals is enriched in Cr. suggesting a
> possible relation. These crystals in the KT layer are thought to have
> condensed and
> precipitated from the plume that shrouded the planet. There is another
> camp that thinks the xtals may be from the impactor.
>
> To address Jim Wooddells concerns, let me say that I was told flat out
> that the reason they couldn't or wouldn't take this to the final
> conclussion was simple, it could jeopardize future funding and
> professional reputation. It seems that if a scientist spends a bunch of
> money and wastes a lot of time on an object that turns out to be
> nothing, monies and reputation are at stake. I can understand this I
> guess, but it seems like a sure way to ensure that the really odd stuff
> will not be recognized unless it's an irrefutable witnessed fall.
>
> Of course it could all be a big coincidence, just a man made rock that
> fooled the Argon dating process. Some have scoffed at it saying it is
> nothing unusual, but the majority of experts say that it is a very unusual
> rock.
> This is evident when looking at a sawn surface, you ca see that it's made
> of minerals with texture, it looks nearly
> identicle to D'Orbigny. In fact, several experts thought it was
> an angrite at first look. When I saw D'Orbigny the first time in ET's
> room I almost fell over. Tiny crystals in the vugs sparkling in the
> light like little diamonds, just like mine. On closer examination I saw
> that the crystals were not the same.
>
> To this day I do not know it's true origin, any meteoriticists or
> impact experts out there with deep pockets and nothing to lose care to
> take a stab at it?
>
> I posted some pictures to photobucket.
>
> http://s934.photobucket.com/albums/ad190/alienrockfarm/2001%20Find/
>
> Ths is an extremely condensed version of the story, it's truly one of the
> most fascinating meteorwrong stories of all time.
>
> Happy Hunting!
>
> Sincerely,
> Larry Atkins
>
> IMCA # 1941
> Ebay alienrockfarm
>
>
> Sincerely,
> Larry Atkins
> IMCA # 1941
> Ebay alienrockfarm
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Wooddell <jimwooddell at gmail.com>
> To: Meteorite List <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Wed, Apr 27, 2011 9:47 am
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Real or not real.
>
>
> Hello Jeff,
>
> The problem with that analogy is that visual inspection is only a very
> small part of the testing of a rock. While your post appears to
> suggest the scientist could not tell, it does not indicate that any
> testing was completed on it. What testing was done on it???
> I could be totally wrong but sure hope that with the bazillions of tax
> dollars spent on funding research, in this day and age, I would
> suggest that there better not be a rock out there the scientist can
> not identify.
> I really get the impression that maybe the scientists where being
> polite and not attempting to burst your bubble?
> Respectfully, what scientist in their right mind would turn down a
> valid cold find or a new fall specimen? Does this actually happen???
> Any scientists out there???
>
> Check out my number 4 of 4 finds on yesterday's hunt at Franconia :
> http://desrtsunburn.no-ip.org/DSCN0142.jpg (~5mb macro)
>
>
> Kind Regards,
>
> Jim Wooddell
> http://desertsunburn.no-ip.org
> ---
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 27, 2011 at 1:46 AM, Jeff Kuyken <info at meteorites.com.au>
> wrote:
>> I have a stone from years ago that appears oriented but weathered. It
> was
>> originally thought to be a planetary but that did not seem to pan out
>> clearly. The problem was that the very qualified scientist could not
> say for
>> sure what it was and could also not rule out other options like an
> Earth
>> meteorite either. Further tests were just too expensive and the budget
>> didn't allow for it.
>>
>> The thing is that the stone was even taken along to one of the Annual
> Met
>> Society meetings and passed around to various people along with a
> couple of
>> well known planetary scientists from NASA looking at it. A couple
> suggested
>> it is likely some sort of basalt but not one person could come up
> with any
>> idea of where or how it formed. Basically they said to just wait and
> see if
>> any other similar NWA's showed up over the years. I'm still waiting!
> ;-)
>>
>> So yes... there are definitely stones out there that stump even the
> best.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Jeff
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "GREG LINDH" <geeg48 at msn.com>
>> To: "meteorite-list" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 4:47 AM
>> Subject: [meteorite-list] Real or not real.
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> To all,
>>>
>>> Are there any stones that have been found that are unable to be
>>> definitively identified as a meteorite? In other words, are there
> stones
>>> (metal or stony) that the meteorite experts of the world examine
> closely,
>>> and then just say, "We just don't know"?
>>>
>>>
>>> Greg L.
>>> ______________________________________________
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>>>
>>
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Received on Mon 09 May 2011 01:00:14 PM PDT