[meteorite-list] A Bunch of Irregular Stones I Found (+How I Think They May Have Originated)

From: Michael Farmer <mike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:07:49 -0700
Message-ID: <4ABB54DE-FAB6-4A51-B3C8-07476D946E05_at_meteoriteguy.com>

I have recently had a problem with an old man in North Dakota, something tells me that more people in this list have had some experience with him lately,
Last year I got a box full of rocks and a nice letter and $20 for my time, to look at and let him know what they were. Unsolicited and uninvited the box arrived at my door. I looked at them all, they were typical glacial rocks of all types. I told him none were meteorites. Late last year I got another box, it arrived the day before I left for Japan for the third trip to Asia in three weeks. I emailed him and told him I would look at them when I got home from the show in Japan. I returned, and only 5 days later rushed off to Sri Lanka for that scam fall.
When I returned I had like 5 calls and emails demanding to know why I had not finished the analysis of his 20 samples and that I was clearly blowing him off! I finally got around to looking at the same crap, glacial rocks of all kinds and colors. None were meteorites. I spoke to him, told him none were meteorites. He sent them in a large flat-rate box, and he enclosed a SMALL flat-rate box to return some pieces that were not his. One of them was a large piece of jade or something green about 1 kilo. it would not fit into such a small box, so I threw it away, he told me I could keep it (I would have a thousand such things if I kept them all).
About a month later I got a nasty letter, saying that he knew they were all meteorites and I was a con-man, stealing and selling his pieces. He demanded return of the jade piece (which was thrown in the trash already). He demanded that I send him detailed analysis from a lab of what the stones were to prove I was not a charlatan.
I kept the $20 he sent and have not bothered to waste my time responding again.
I no longer am interested in accepting samples from anyone. It is not worth my time to waste on these people who are so sure they are instant millionaires.
I never requested nor authorized him to send me anything but I responded and took my time to let him know that none were meteorites and returned the ones he requested be returned. My thanks, being called a liar and thief and fraud:)
So don't expect everyone to fall to their knees when you ask them to identify something. Most of us dealers have put up with these nuts for decades and are pretty jaded at this point.

Michael Farmer

Sent from my iPad

On Mar 23, 2013, at 10:52 AM, wahlperry at aol.com wrote:

> Hi Adam and List,
>
> While I agree there can be some confusion on identifying meteorites and meteor wrongs I would like to make a comment on your Easter Egg Hunt post.
>
>> I call this this Easter Egg hunt syndrome. A lot of people believe
> meteorites
>> are lying around everywhere just ready to be picked up like Easter
> Eggs on a
>> child's hunt.
>
> Some of you will find this hard to believe. I call this the EEYORE syndrome. As you probably know Eeyore is the delightfully dismal pessimistic Donkey on
> Winnie the Pooh.
>
> If you had been along on the Buzzard Coulee or Yelland meteorite hunts you would understand that indeed there are cases when meteorites are literally laying everywhere. It just takes some time and dedicated hunting to find them. When McCartney Taylor and I got to Buzzard Coulee and located the strewnfield we could not believe our eyes. The meteorites were everywhere! Hell, Ray Charles could have found some! It really was an amazing sight and felt like an Easter Egg Hunt. Believe me, if I had an Easter basket I could have filled it.
>
>> Then they can cash them in for huge amounts just like seen on
>> TV.
>
> I imagine the same can be said for meteorites sold on EBay or any other public forum. I recently saw an ad on my Local CBS news advertising the worlds largest NWA
> Lunar meteorite for sale. The report said it was locked in a safe and guarded 24 hours a day. I would assume this would convey the message that this meteorite is very valuable. Correct me if I am wrong. I think this may have been one of your meteorites for sale.
>
> In regards to Peter's finds;
> I know that sometimes it is difficult for someone who has found a meteor wrong to accept the fact that the stone that they are sure is a meteorite is a meteorwrong.
> At this point it is often difficult to convince them otherwise. I generally refer them to an expert at a respected University. I also believe that there are many experts right here on the List and I personally would trust their opinions 100%.
>
> Sonny
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Adam Hupe <raremeteorites at yahoo.com>
> To: Adam <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Sat, Mar 23, 2013 7:27 am
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] A Bunch of Irregular Stones I Found (+How I Think They May Have Originated)
>
>
> I call this this Easter Egg hunt syndrome. A lot of people believe meteorites
> are lying around everywhere just ready to be picked up like Easter Eggs on a
> child's hunt. Then they can cash them in for huge amounts just like seen on
> TV. In reality, even on a fall, it may be several hundred hours between finds.
>
>
> Adam
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Received on Sat 23 Mar 2013 02:07:49 PM PDT