[meteorite-list] Up and Coming Hunt - Possible Giant Iron Meteorite Located

From: Raremeteorites <raremeteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 3 May 2015 11:34:29 -0700
Message-ID: <7079A6C3A19242DFB9EAE88D32FBE804_at_HPDESKTOP>

The new Team LunarRock has been busy the last several months developing
leads so that we can have a successful meteorite and mineral hunt next
month. Our goal was to locate hard to access, virgin areas in hopes of
finding the first North American Lunar meteorite. In the process, we came
across information of a possible giant iron meteorite on private land. Our
research allowed us to zero in on the barely accessible area. It was like
searching for a needle in a haystack but we think we have located it from
satellite.

We examined historical satellite images and the object appears to have
shifted five feet to the left over the last 20 years leaving a void in the
dirt bank and re-shifting the position of an intermittent wash. We feel the
object has to be heavy in order to rechannel the large wash. It is a real
object that sits high enough above the ground in order to cast a shadow. It
is rust colored with a green tint. The green tint can also be seen in the
bank were it may have left a weathering halo. Nickel is known to turn green
with weathering so we take this as a positive indication. The image below,
stripped of its actual metadata is the best resolution we could come up with
of the unknown but promising looking object.
Not the scale bar. This may be larger than Hoba! If it turns out to be
something else, at least we have several dozen other leads to follow.

http://themeteoritesite.com/adam/Meteorite-a.jpg

Another imaged zoomed out slightly for another perspective:

http://themeteoritesite.com/adam/Meteorite-b.jpg

Zoomed out even more to show there is nothing close to this size in the
immediate area. In other words, there was no glaciations in the area and
this object did not come from a mountain range:

http://themeteoritesite.com/adam/Meteorite-c.jpg


We will get ground images of whatever it is when we are able to access it
with our freshly prepared off-road vehicles. We still have a few bugs to
work out with our equipment before being able to reach this object. I was
finally able to access a dry lake bed yesterday that I have been trying to
get to for several years that we thought was only accessible by helicopter.
I still have two issues to deal with that I thought were resolved; nothing
like a real field test to expose any weaknesses. My main NAV computer lost
satellite acquisition due to cloud cover so I need to install a booster.
The backup system worked although it only provided limited data. Another
problem with both SPL OPS Rubicons that arouse is a shifting issue. The
adaptive computer has learned bad driving habits and doesn't like to stay in
overdrive on inclines automatically at 80 miles an hour on pavement even
though the powerful engines don't need to be downshifted.

No matter what, we are committed to the hunt after postponing it to early
June.

It will be good to have boots on the ground again.

Happy Hunting,

Adam
Received on Sun 03 May 2015 02:34:29 PM PDT