[meteorite-list] Mis-Conception Junction (casual similarities to Brenham)

From: Michael Gilmer <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:21:34 -0500
Message-ID: <CAKBPJW-FhPqkxNhhq4Vj5E0U-9dwzE2ELDSHUAkR5m24kxR21g_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Dave and List,

The title of your post gave me a good chuckle - quite punny and
definitely appropriate.

Nobody would blame Dr. Korotev for that mess of an article. Although,
I think this entire affair can be laid to rest if some billionaire (or
lotto winner) would simply step forward and take one for the team - I
have a part-slice of El Hammami that I am willing to sell for several
million dollars, thus setting the precedent required to make the
article accurate.

While we are on the subject of this new pallasite, I'd like to bring
up a question that was briefly touched upon in the past - the visual
similarity between Conception Junction and Brenham.

I realize that the analysis has been done and these two meteorites are
not the same. However, is there some chance that the two finds may be
casually related in some way? To the eye, based on visual
appearances alone, Brenham and Conception Junction do look similar.
Now, I may be speaking from ignorance, since I have never seen a
specimen of Conception Junction in person. I have only seen photos,
but if I was presented with a slice of each in a "blind taste test", I
would be at a loss to tell one from the other.

Is there any possibility that these two meteorites might share the
same parent body, or be launch-paired in some way? Are there any
similarities in cosmic ray exposure data, terrestrial age, oxygen
isotope (or any other compositional data) for these meteorites?

Best regards,

MikeG

-- 
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On 11/11/11, Dave Gheesling <dave at fallingrocks.com> wrote:
> 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 -
>> http://www.galactic-stone.com/rss/126516
>> Twitter - http://twitter.com/galacticstone
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> -----------
>>
>>
>> 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 06:21:34 PM PST