[meteorite-list] Mis-Conception Junction

From: Dave Gheesling <dave_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:41:24 -0500
Message-ID: <B5219F8C05F44FAB9076D5046E19D189_at_meteorroom>

Michael & All,

As indicated before, we're as disappointed in the sensationalism that hit
the wire with this article as anyone, as if any of us knew about it prior,
it obviously could have been prevented.

Diana Lutz, the WUSTL writer of the first article that started the mess,
however, actually wrote a nice article for the most part. I've spoken with
her at length, and she not only corrected the gross error in value -- she
deleted value references entirely, which is quite uncommon in journalism
today. Her mistake, which jumps off the screen at those of us in the
meteorite community who are familiar with meteorite values, was an honest
miscalculation on her part, and she feels badly about it. So at the end of
the day, her work is probably undeserving of the descriptive "bunk"
(although I do share your frustration, Michael). Her revised article
follows:

http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22942.aspx

I should also note again that none of this was Dr. Korotev's fault. He gave
a great interview, and there was simply a disconnect in their discussion of
value...nothing more.

Some of the stories that followed when Diana's article was picked up have
also been corrected or at least modified, although it's frustrating to watch
reporters simply refuse to get away from the notion of "heavenly values" and
that sort of BS (which was obviously the reason most of them ran the story
in the first place, which is a shame). Anyway, we've worked hard to stop
everything that we could, but I'm afraid the mess will never be swept up
entirely.

Best wishes for a great weekend to all,

Dave
www.fallingrocks.com
 

-----Original Message-----
From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Michael
Farmer
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 4:48 PM
To: Michael Gilmer
Cc: Dick Lipke; Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Remember this common find?

Considering that it is being publicly sold for less than 1/3 that price
makes this article is bunk. Even Krasnojarsk hardly sells for $200 gram.
Yup, this misinformation further hampers field recoveries. It is a
spectacular meteorite, it is not $3 million dollars.


Michael Farmer

Sent from my iPad

On Nov 10, 2011, at 2:26 PM, Michael Gilmer <meteoritemike at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Dick and List,
>
> Conception Junction is a spectacular pallasite find and everyone
> involved with the find should feel a well-deserved sense of
> accomplishment.
>
> But, I cringe every time I see an article like this.
>
> Worth $3.4 million dollars? Really? To whom? Something is worth
> what someone will pay for it. In the history of meteorites, how many
> specimens have sold for millions of dollars? To my knowledge - none.
>
> Carelessly throwing around cash numbers like this is irresponsible at
> best and damages the entire meteorite community by unrealistically
> raising expectations amongst lay people who are not knowledgeable
> about the meteorite market.
>
> Every article like this creates scammers intent on making a quick buck
> from slags, landowners wanting astronomical sums for common
> chondrites, and draws unwanted attention from legislative authorities
> who might feel tempted to interfere with meteorite market via taxation
> or regulation.
>
> I expected better from Space.com.
>
> Best regards,
>
> MikeG
> --
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------- Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Meteorites & Amber (Michael
> Gilmer)
>
> Website - http://www.galactic-stone.com Facebook -
> http://tinyurl.com/42h79my News Feed -
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------
>
>
> On 11/10/11, Dick Lipke <RICHARDLIPKE at comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>> -
>> www.space.com/13578-missouri-farmer-rare-meteorite-conception-junctio
>> n.html I recall someone saying it was only a common find!!!
>>
>>
>> Richard Lipke
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Received on Fri 11 Nov 2011 04:41:24 PM PST