Norm`s Tektite Teasers

Meteorite Times Magazine
Contents
Paul Harris
Featured Articles
Accretion Desk by Martin Horejsi
Jim’s Fragments by Jim Tobin
Meteorite Market Trends by Michael Blood
Bob’s Findings by Robert Verish
Micro Visions by John Kashuba
Norm’s Tektite Teasers by Norm Lehrman
Mr. Monning’s Collection by Anne Black
IMCA Insights by The IMCA Team
Meteorite of the Month by Editor
Tektite of the Month by Editor
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Meteorite Times Magazine
Book Notice: Meteorite: Nature and Culture by Maria Golia
Martin Horejsi
http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/M/bo22258162.html
For over three decades I have been collecting, studying and writing about meteorites f rom the
perspective of their impact on culture, society and science. So I’m more than a little excited about this
book. Golia blends the magic of meteorites across time and ownership. The book is f illed with stories,
example, and exceptional pictures. At no time does it go overboard into heavy science which makes it a
great read f or the casual meteorite af icionado. Many of the colorf ul and large pictures are the work of my
f riend Tom Phillips who initiated the Micro Visions column in The Meteorite Times.
In f act the book is f illed with the litterati and glitterati of meteorites, both intellectual and commercial. The
tales of science are as thrilling to uncover as the auctions stories. Whether poetry, paintings, or pop
culture, Golia drills home the interaction between everything meteorite in a precious tome of some 208
pages.
Sitting on over a kilo of history, no doubt that those lucky witnesses to the
f all of Alfianello would have ever expected that rocks f alling f rom space
would be such an important contribution to humanities’s intellectual
evolution.
It’s not very of ten that a book such as Meteorite: Nature and Culture comes along. In f act, pretty much
never. Here’s the dope f rom the publisher…
Book Description f rom the publisher’s website:
“Arriving amid thunderous blasts and flame-streaked skies, meteorites were once thought to be
messengers from the gods. Worshipped in the past, now scrutinized with equal zeal by scientists,
meteorites helped sculpt Earth’s features and have shaped our understanding of the planet’s origins.
Meteorite tells the long history of our engagement with these sky-born rocks, which are among the rarest
things on earth.
Scientists, scholars and enthusiasts have scoured the skies and combed Earth’s most unforgiving
reaches for meteorites, contributing to a body of work that situates our planet and ourselves within the
vastness of the universe. Prized for their strange and otherworldly qualities, meteorites are both
collectibles and commodities, art objects and the objects of artists’ desires, while ‘meteorite hunting’ is
an adventurous, lucrative profession for some and an addictive hobby for thousands of others.
This richly illustrated, wide-ranging account surveys the place of meteoritic phenomena in science,
myth, art, literature and popular culture. Appealing to anyone interested in interplanetary space, in the
uncanny and the marvelous, Meteorite explores the ancient, lasting power of the meteorite to inspire and
awe.”
As a paperback, the retail price of $24.95 might seem on the high side compared to Richard Norton’s
Rocks From Space 2ed. or Caroline Smith’s recent book Meteorites, the books is well worth it. Not as
hard-f act f illed as RFS, but if you want to understand the landscape of meteorites in the 21st century,
then Golia’s book is your one-stop-shop to get you up to speed. But then again, with the inf lation of outof -print meteorite book prices, you would be happy to pay the $25 now than the $100 used price a f ew
years in the f uture.
Meteorites are crying f or attention, and have have been f or centuries. Many have listened, but then muted
the message when trying to broadcast the inf ormation to a wider audience. the but not since Christopher
Cokinos painted his picture back in 2009 with his “epic journey” of meteorites in his thick book The Fallen
Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars, has there been an attempt to sell the magic of meteorites to
the very public that his been inf initely af f ected the the rocks f rom space that f all into our lives every year.
Meteorites: Nature and Culture is the next chapter in our collective journey where the humble meteorite
has brought us together f or better or worse.
Until next time….
Meteorite Times Magazine
The 20th Anniversary Gold Basin Meteorite Celebration
James Tobin
Jim Kriegh f inding a Gold Basin meteorite with his metal detector in 1998. Photo by Richard Norton
The History
Shown above is a 20.07 gram Gold Basin meteorite f rom this writer’s collection with an unusual metal
inclusion, it has the normal ancient exterior appearance.
Twenty years ago Jim Kriegh f ound the f irst meteorites at Gold Basin, Arizona while prospecting f or gold
in Hualapai Wash. He had the stones identif ied and conf irmed as space rocks. For the next two years or
so the area was systematically hunted by Jim Kriegh and Twink Monrad and John Blennert to determine
the extent of the strewnf ield in cooperation with the University of Arizona. They received special
permission to hunt in the Lake Mead Recreational Area and those meteorites were sent away to the
Smithsonian. Going to the strewnf ield month by month f or two years revealed that the strewnf ield was of
enormous size. We now know that it is even f ar larger extending beyond Lake Mead into Nevada and
having personally f ound a Gold Basin meteorite f ar to the south it is truly a huge strewnf ield. Gold Basin
meteorites have also been on Earth f or a very long time. It was thought years ago that they might have
arrived millions of years ago during the Wisconsin Glaciation. But new technology and techniques set a
time-f rame of 10,000 to 15,000 years ago f or the f all. The Gold Basin area has f rom nearly the start been
a Gordian Knot to unravel. While many are L4 Chondrites some were early on being classif ied as L5 and
L6 with solo meteorites as would be expected mixed into such a large area. Today with a dozen dif f erent
meteorite names in the area it is still a conf using situation. So questions remain today about the
relationship of all these old meteorites of varying classif ications. Are they part of just one huge f all of
perhaps a brecciated mass? Or were there actually a dozen or so f alls on the same plot of land. Hunting
continues and f inds continue to be made. The area is f illed with “hot rocks” that are iron mineral rich and
set of f metal detectors. These Hot Rocks were what originally made f inding meteorites a little easier. The
gold prospectors would get a hit on a meteorite and dig the spot but f inding what they thought was just
another hot rock threw it aside by the hole and moved on to hunt gold. Af ter the recognition of the hot
rocks being meteorites many were f ound still lying near the numerous holes f rom the past. Gold Basin has
been a challenging place to hunt. Three trips in the past with just a single meteorite f ound. What will this
f ourth trip yield?
Before The Event
I begin this article while I am in the packing and getting things together stage of the trip. It has been a long
time since I have been dry camping just out in the desert with no f acilities. Paul and I used to do it all the
time with the f irst astronomy club where we met. But f or the last 20 years he has had an RV and I have
gone to places with at least water and electricity if I went camping alone.
But the Gold Basin 20th Anniversary Celebration was being held out in the desert with nothing in the way
of amenities. Like an island; if you don’t bring it with you then you don’t have it. I had to get all the camping
equipment out and clean it up. I had a f ire the last time I used a Coleman stove and I am not ref erring to
the normal f ire it is supposed to make. This was billowing orange f lames lapping into the camper as I used it
on the tailgate of my truck. I turned of f the valve but the f ire did not stop so I grabbed the f ire
extinguisher and put it out. I took the stove to the nearest trash can and mubbled something like “that is
the last time I use a white gas stove.” My daughter and I got breakf ast at a restaurant that morning instead
of making the meal bef ore heading home. So I needed to get a new stove f or this trip if I was going to
have any hot f ood. I have eaten out of cans and done some pretty primitive camping in my lif e. When I was
in the f ield by myself doing archaeological site surveys I would of ten just eat sandwiches made of deviled
ham or canned chicken with crackers and sof t drinks that were of ten no longer cold. But you can do things
like that when you are young, now that I am old I need a f ew comf orts. I got a nice propane two burner
stove that will probably last the rest of my lif etime.
I made a list f or this trip and every f ew minute even as I am writing this I am adding things to it. I just now
remembered that I need to take the walkie-talkies so I can get in touch with the organizers as I get close if
I have trouble f inding the site. I have been to Gold Basin several times and I remember the general lay of
the land. I have the GPS coordinates f or where the camp is being set up. Still I usually carry the hand held
radios when I am hunting anyway. My list f or the trip is broken down into categories of smaller lists. Stuf f
f or the truck like tools and tire repair stuf f and water and spare gas can. Then there are lists f or meteorite
hunting and astrophotography and f or f ood and personal items. I guess I am really trying to make sure I
don’t f orget anything important.
My trucks are both in good working order and run f ine but neither of them is very new anymore. Especially
the one with the camper. So I am a little concerned that this long trip will go well. I have been waiting f or the
DMV renewal f orm to come in the mail so I can get the truck with the camper tuned up and checked out at
the same time it is smog tested.
I have not used my metal detector in a couple years. Everywhere I have been hunting meteorites has been
dry lakes and I used a magnet stick. So I need to take it out to the backyard and ref resh my memory on
tuning the detector. I don’t usually use head phones when I detect because of a run in with a rattlesnake
years ago that I did not hear because of having head phones on. But I think I will take them this trip and
use them maybe. I am looking f or both meteorites and gold this trip.
The Event
Well time has passed and actually the event is over. First of f I f orgot to take some of the items I
mentioned above. A f ew days bef ore the event I got hit f rom behind by a distracted driver and it threw me
into a state of discombobulation. I f orgot the walkie-talkie radios, and the sheets on my of f ice bulletin
board with the coordinates and google earth image I printed out. I was scrambling around doing all the
extra things that have to be done when someone hits your car. Since one truck was in the body shop and I
was taking the other I was worried about what my wif e would drive while I was gone. She was returning
f rom a trip to Kansas the evening bef ore I was leaving. The insurance provided f or a rental if I needed it
but I got my repaired truck back an hour af ter picking Sara up at the airport.
I lef t f or Gold Basin at 6:15 am on Thursday morning to arrive if all went well in the af ternoon when Richard
Garcia one of the planners and a all around great guy and f riend was going to arrive. I arrived at the f irst
cattle guard near the beginning of Hideout Rd at about 1:30 and since I had already remembered while
driving that I did not have my map, satellite image, or directions, or radio, I called Richard on my phone. He
was soon to arrive and I took the time to do a little hunting. Paul and I had f ound meteorites in that exact
area a f ew years ago.
While waiting around John Humphries and Jana Becker drove up, f ollowed quickly by Richard and then
Dennis Miller. Soon our f our vehicles were rolling and bouncing their way to the campsite by the back
route. It was f un but with the sun getting low I had hopes that all would go well on the rough road, which it
did.
We got settled in and at least partially set up bef ore it got too dark to do more work. We started a f ire in
the nice pit that was there. It was time to get acquainted and tell stories, but of course no lies. I think we
were all hopef ul of f inding Gold Basin meteorites in the next f ew days.
This is an image of my campsite. Everything worked well and even as cold as it got at night I brought
enough sleeping bags and blankets to be comf ortable.
While waiting by my car that af ternoon f or the others to arrive a gent in a truck rolled up on his way out of
the area. He asked if I had f ound any meteorites. I said “No not yet just practicing while I wait f or f riends
to come.” He then showed me the two meteorites he had f ound that day. They were nice, one about 30
grams and the other about 50. Then he pulled out a drawstring bag and dumped his gold nuggets into his
hand. He had f our or f ive large nuggets of about a quarter ounce each and two large blobs of gold about
the diameter of a nickel coin which were what he had melted of the smaller gold f rom his drywasher. We
talked a minute or two and he said when I asked that they had been f ound near the exact campsite we
were headed to. He added that he had been out the week bef ore and f ound f our and brought a f riend
who had f ound a 262 gram stone in a f ew minutes. I was now quite hopef ul of many people being
successf ul hunters.
I related that story around the campf ire and about the same time a man f rom a nearby RV came over to
say hello. He pulled out a nice meteorite that he had f ound that day which was larger than the two I had
seen earlier. He and his wif e were there recovering gold with a drywasher f rom the nearby wash. They had
been doing OK but not well enough to stay plus he wanted to tour Hoover Dam bef ore having to be in Las
Vegas in a day or two. They were leaving in the morning. Af ter they would be gone only our group would
be there. I went to bed with high conf idence that we were in a good spot and we had gotten good inf o
about other hot spots near enough to walk or easily drive to.
Sunrise at Gold Basin.
Friday morning brought in more attendees and my f irst journey out into the f ield hunting. I had not gotten
very f ar when Bob Verish approached me and we went of f hunting together. It was great to have a chance
to hunt again with him. We discussed a wide range of topics and the politics of meteorite hunting and the
problems of getting classif ications done. Af ter about six hours we arrived back f rom our huge loop over hill
and valley and many washes at camp once again. Though we f ound plenty of interesting rocks there were
no meteorites f or us that day.
It was just bef ore twilight when we got back and time to get dinner on and the stove going. I had only had
a wonderf ul ice cold Bartlett pear and glass of milk f or breakf ast and just a f ew cheese puf f s f or lunch.
Something warm would f eel good f or dinner. I heated up a can of beef stew and had that with saltine
crackers and a soda. It was nice to be of f my f eet. But I could not rest long. In the very little light that was
lef t I had to get the astro imaging stuf f out and partially set up. I had my red f lashlight but you can add
“f orgot my lantern” to the list of items I lef t at home. But soon everything except the camera and computer
were set up ready to be connected and aligned and plugged in. Now it was time to sit around the f ire and
get warm and listen to more stories and tonight maybe even a f ew lies. The group was really a great bunch
and we had a good turn out by Friday night. There were a couple dozen people by then.
About 10:30 or 11 the last couple people were ready to head of f and get some well earned sleep af ter a
hard day of meteorite hunting. But my night had a couple more hours of f un in it. I had taken a break
during the campf ire time to get out the laptop and connect everything together. I had even begun taking
some exposures of an object that I sort of accidentally got in the f ield of view. I had aligned my little
camera tracker and then pointed the camera around roughly toward the Pleiades. I needed to take a f ew
test shots while I waited f or Orion to get higher. When the f irst shot of the Pleiades came up on the
computer the f amous cluster was there on the screen but so was the Calif ornia Nebula. So I got
everything f ocused and decided to do a complete run of 30 f rames of a minute each on the Calif ornia
Nebula just to see what I would get. Once it was set up the sof tware would take all the images and I could
go back to the warmth of the f ire f or half an hour.
Af ter that imaging session ended I started on a wide f ield session of 60 subs of as long as I could go on
Orion. Unf ortunately I bumped the tripod in the dark and messed up my polar alignment. I had already put
the alignment borescope away so I realigned the best I could and started the session with one minute
exposures. Af ter it was going I watched the meteors that were happening ever f ew seconds. Then I saw
the brightest meteor I have ever seen. Wow! I stif led my excitement and did not wake anyone else up but
Wow! It was not a streak of light but a very wide brush shaped white meteor. It was very bright and moved
really slow. It dropped out of sight behind the mountain to the north just below Cassiopeia. Soon I had my
60 shots and put away the computer and camera. I was in bed by about 12:30 I think. I was still thinking
about that meteor as sleep f inally came.
This is the f inal processed image f rom my sixty sub exposures stacked and stretched. I learned a lot about
what I can capture and I can not wait to do the same area on my guided telescope mount with 5-6 minute
exposures.
Saturday Morning we had been asked to make ourselves available f or a group photo at 8:30 am.
This is the group that was around f or the photo on Saturday morning. By the end of the weekend 39 names
were on the sign in sheet. Thanks go to Richard Garcia f or this image.
Af ter the photo was taken a group of us headed down the road about a mile and a half . We hunted f or a
while as the group grew to include all those going to another area. I got out pretty f ar f rom the cars, was
not the last to return when we were called back but close to last.
For the meteorite hunter there are tools we use and even rely upon to f ind the stones. If they are buried
then a metal detector is indispensable. But when you are hunting and see the stone 10 f eet away and say
in your mind it looks the right color, it is rounded not broken and angular, it is without a doubt a meteorite
and know that when you put a magnet on it there is going to be a lot of sticking. Then you reach it and
touch it with the magnet and what you knew in your mind is conf irmed; that is the best. To know bef ore
you touch it and to f ind it with just your eyes. For me that is the supreme f ind experience.
Pictured here is the 116.9 gram Gold Basin that I f ound on the Saturday hunt.
There it was a chocolate brown colored rounded dome sticking above the dirt surf ace. Everything
screamed meteorite. When I picked it up it had the heavy f eel in my hand. It had stuck to the magnet but
not as strongly as I thought it should. When I f elt the weight in my hand I said that is why. It was bigger
when it came out of the ground then I thought f rom what I could see. I walked over to Roy Miller and his
son Cody and showed them. At nearly the same time we heard over the radio that Jason Synder had
f ound one too. His turned out to be a whooper at 276.8 grams. All of us were re motivated to hunt a little
harder.
Mine was also a nearly complete individual with a pretty ovoid shape. Af ter f our trip totally many days I had
now f ound my second Gold Basin meteorite. This one was also so much nicer than the f irst which I f ound
many years ago. I hunted that area f or another couple hours and f ound no more. Luck as much or more
than planning determines if you f ind a meteorite. And hours in the f ield do more to increasing your chances
but there are always meteorites f ound instantly right next to where someone parked their car. We had a
couple f inds like that at the event. But any f ind is a great f ind and everyone who f ound a stone was
delighted. I think everyone who did not make a f ind had f un too and knew they were closer then bef ore to
the next one they would f ind by having been there.
Saturday af ternoon f ound us all back at camp. Richard had asked us to return at 3:30 pm because “you
have to be present f or the drawings to win.” Twink Monrad gave us a review of the history surrounding the
discovery by Jim Kriegh of the meteorites and told us of the study they did in the area f or a couple years
to map the extent of the strewnf ield. She served as prize awarder and name picker in the drawing and
prize award portion of the f estivities. Richard Garcia was the main Master of Ceremonies but he brought
up Dave Libuszowski to help. There were thirty-nine hunters in attendance by Saturday af ternoon. Some
people were staying in Meadview at night and driving over each morning. Jason Synder and Jana Becker
tied f or most f ound with f our meteorites each. Jana also won prettiest looking meteorite f or one Richard
nick named “peanut” beating out my 116.9 gram stone. Jason Synder also won f or largest with his whooper
276.8 grammer. Annie and Tim Morris received the award f or having traveled the f arthest to attend.
This is a picture taken by Richard Garcia during Twink’s talk on Saturday af ternoon.
The award winners and event planners are pictured here in this image contributed by Richard Garcia. From
lef t to right they are Jana Becker, Twink Monrad, Annie Morris, Tim Morris, Jason Snyder, Richard Garcia,
Dave Libuszowski.
We had a big impromptu hot dog cookout on Saturday night with chips and cookies and some sinf ully
wonderf ul cupcakes over at our campsites that were serving as base camp. A huge f ire was started and
kept going until late. The nights had been chilly in the high 30’s to mid 40 degrees F. The f ire was
appreciated. There was again a lot of great conversation and story telling, and I am sure there were lies
told on Saturday night. Lots of laughing and f un. Slowly though the crowd dispersed and it was again time
to try and get a little sleep. I had a long drive home and a decision to make. Some of the group were
heading to Franconia to hunt in the morning. Richard was going to take Annie and Tim Morris to Franconia
to let them try some good spots he knew and invited me. Others were going as well.
Sunday morning the coyote that had been hanging around the area all weekend made its way over to where
Richard and I were camped and I took some f ast shots with my cellphone. But it continued to hang around
so I went and got my Canon and put on my 70-300 mm telephoto and got some much nicer close up shots.
I have spent weeks at Franconia and have f ound the little irons on the north side but have never f ound a
stone. Without a 4×4 Paul Harris and I can not get to where they are still being f ound. Paul has f ound
stones on the north side but I get skunked each time. So the of f er of get way back into the strewnf ield on
the north side was exciting to me. But getting home early was important too. Richard had to be on his way
f rom Franconia by about 2 pm so I would get back home pretty early and I decided in the night bef ore
sleeping to go down there f or the mid day hunt.
Tim and Annie Morris had come the f arthest f or the event all the way f rom the East Coast. Annie f ound a
Gold Basin meteorite as well. She is a very skilled astro imager and we had a nice chance to talk during the
weekend. Richard was almost f inished packing up and Tim and Annie and myself were ready to leave so
Richard told us to go a head and start. We both needed gas in Kingman and Richard would probably catch
us anyway. We made our way to Franconia and I called to check with Richard where he was and got news
that Dennis Miller’s battery had died and Richard had stayed to assist him and could not make it to
Franconia in time to still get on the road to where he needed to be going. So I took Annie and Tim out to
the area where Paul f ound stones and I have f ound irons and we hunted. Tim used my Gold Bug 2 and
Annie had the detector that had been successf ul f or her at Gold Basin. As we were walking f rom our
trucks to the plateau we ran into Robby and Robert Hoover who had been there since early. It had been
nice chatting with them during the weekend. We have hunted together bef ore, they are f un to spent time
with. But they were just waiting f or a stopped train to move away so they could drive home. We kept
walking out f urther and I told Annie and Tim anywhere in here is as good as anywhere else since we were
in the strewnf ield.
We hunted I guess about 3 ½ hours. They did well with the detectors. They f ound all the buried f lying
metal that they walked across. The bullets, bullet jackets and the ever present tiny bits of wire kept them
digging and sif ting at Franconia.
I got a nice chance to chat with them more. They were returning home by I 40 and were going to stop at
Meteor Crater. My f avorite place any regular reader of my articles knows. And I suggested that they stop
at Holbrook and hunt. They had magnet canes and the meteorites are visible almost always. I heard a
couple days later that they had been successf ul in f inding some Holbrooks, Woo Hoo!! We lef t Franconia
at 4 in the af ternoon. It had rained on us f or a while but got nice later on. That was my f irst meteorite
hunting in the rain.
I was thinking that I would get home quite late and called Sara to let her know I was leaving Franconia. I
f orgot that I was going to gain an hour in a f ew miles when I crossed over into Calif ornia. My truck had
pref ormed very well and I had babied it a little going to Gold Basin staying at between 60-65 mph. But I
said I might as well go the speed limit of 70 mph. Even with the terrible rain and wind I got home about 8:45
pm which was great. And it was good to be home and I had a Gold Basin meteorite too.
Next morning I got on the computer and sent some images of Holbrook with directions and clues on hot
spots I had good success at to Annie and Tim and wished them luck and a saf e trip. That was the true
end f or me of the Gold Basin 20th Anniversary of Jim Kriegh’s Discovery Weekend Celebration. But the
memories and f riendships will go on f or years I hope.
Meteorite Times Magazine
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 1 No. 4
Robert Verish
A newsletter for “orphaned” meteorites from the USA.
In my f irst Bulletin, I introduced the phrase “orphaned-meteorites f rom the USA”. I def ined these “orphans”
as being unwitnessed-f all Ordinary Chondrite (OC) meteorite “f inds” that are recovered in the U.S., but
that the f inders of these meteorites have f ound great dif f iculty in getting their f inds recorded, let alone
accepted f or classif ication.
Unf ortunately, the vast majority of new U.S. f inds are of this type.
I went on to write that these U.S. f inds were being orphaned f rom the f amily of “approved” meteorites f or
the f ollowing reasons:
1) The lack of f unding f or U.S. researchers to authenticate, classif y, and document/record these U.S. OC
f inds has resulted in several new [negative]; trends.
2) The increasing trend of commercializing the classif ying of meteorites by U.S. researchers has priced
U.S. OC f inds out of the market, and
3) The increasing trend of U.S. researchers to turn away OC f inds, even when f inders of U.S. OC
meteorites are willing to pay f or their classif ication.
I now need to address the comments being made that this subject is a “non-issue”. Granted, these kind of
comments are f ew in number, and in every case comes f rom agenda-driven individuals whose
departments stand to f inancially benef it in maintaining the “status quo”. But like all grass-roots issues, it
doesn’t take much dirt to bury the emerging seedlings coming into the light of day.
The misinf ormation that is being spread like so much f ertilizer is that NASA f unds the classif ication of U.S.
meteorites. Although it is widely understood that this is not the case, it only shows what Joseph Goebbels
meant when he said, “If you repeat a lie enough times, it becomes the truth.”
Here is an actual quote f rom a NASA website that describes their f unding:
“NASA places a high priority on tracking asteroids and protecting our home
planet from them. In fact, the U.S. has the most robust and productive
survey and detection program for discovering near-Earth objects (NEOs).
To date, U.S. assets have discovered about 98 percent of known NEOs.
Radar is a powerful technique for studying an asteroid’s size, shape,
rotation, surface features and surface roughness, and for improving the
calculation of asteroid orbits. Radar measurements of asteroid distances
and velocities often enable computation of asteroid orbits much further
into the future than would be possible otherwise.
In addition to the resources NASA puts into understanding asteroids, it
also partners with other U.S. government agencies, university-based astronomers,
and space science institutes across the country, often with grants, inter-agency
transfers and other contracts from NASA, and also with international space
agencies and institutions that are working to track and better understand
these objects. In addition, NASA values the work of numerous highly skilled
amateur astronomers, whose accurate observational data helps improve asteroid
orbits after they are found.“
So, yes, NASA does f und research involving asteroids and the “Meteoroid Environment” (the area in
space where meteoroids could come into contact with our astronauts). But outside of Antarctica, once
these meteorites land in the U.S., there is no f unding to recover, record, let alone analyze or classif y
them.
And, yes, you can f ind certain individuals in select university departments and space science institutes
that have grants or contracts with NASA that involve meteorites (presumably to search f or evidence of
extraterrestrial lif e in them), but these well-def ined projects don’t include classif ication of meteorite f inds.
The classif ying of U.S. Ordinary Chondrite f inds would probably be considered a misuse of those f unds,
so the less said about that possibility, the better.
And, yes, there have been some notable exceptions (which can be counted on one hand), but each of
these instances came under close scrutiny by NASA bean-counters, and were deemed exceptional cases.
For example, the meteorites were recently f allen and were rare carbonaceous variety, or the f inds were
“young” enough to have some bearing on the inf lux in the current “Meteoroid Environment”.
So, once and f or all, there is no U.S. f unding f or the classif ication of U.S. meteorite f inds. This is a wellknown f act among meteorite classif iers here in the U.S., but still had to be reiterated by Melinda Hutson in
her reply to the Meteorite-List in 2013:
(quote) “We never planned to study the Franconia area, and it would be impossible to get grant funding
to do so (I’ve discussed this with Laurence Garvie at ASU — grants fund
well-defined research projects that have a focused [sic] goal.
No one f unds classif ication of meteorites).” (unquote)
(Ref : http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com/2013/may/0063.html )
The f ollowing “Bulletin” is just one example of an alternative way in which to record U.S. OC meteorite
f inds that are going unreported (because of a lack of f unding to classif y meteorites, which leads to a lack
of interest in OC f inds by U.S. researchers). It is my hope that this compilation will bring attention to the
problem of the increasing number of meteorites f ound here in the USA, not only going unclassif ied, but
also going unrecorded. Hopef ully, some volunteers will of f er to help establish an on-line database that will
document these “orphans”.
Newsletter for Orphaned Meteorites from USA – Volume 1 No. 4 — November 2015
Meteorite-Recovery Inf ormation
Petrographic Descriptions
Meteorite Specimen Petrographic Descriptions:
N031004 C111120 N150805, a.k.a. “MF59”
Example Petrographic Description
Field ID Number
C111120
Newsletter
Vol. 01-4
Location
Calif ornia, USA
Thin-section ID Number
V-W04
Dimensions
4.0cm x 3.5cm x 3.0cm
Weight
31.0 grams
Type Specimen
9.1gram endcut – plus
thin-section
Class
Ordinary Chondrite (quite
possibly an L6)
Weathering Grade
mid-range (but very likely
above “W3”)
Shock Stage
low (most likely “S2” or
lower)
Macroscopic Description — R. Verish
This meteorite is a weathered, half -stone, which was
f ound in two pieces. A 4.6gram corner piece was f ound
less than a meter away f rom the 26.4gram main-mass,
and can be physically-paired. Although only separated
by less than a meter the two f ragments appear to have
undergone slightly dif f erent weathering histories in their
respective local micro-environments. The dark exterior
of this chondrite is covered 50% with a relict f usion
crust and many rust-spots. The interior is patterned in a
variety of orange to yellow-brown to dark-brown colors
with very low metal-grain content, and only a f ew troilite
grains. The chondrules and inclusions are not distinct.
Thin Section Description — R. Verish
The section exhibits a variety of chondule sizes (some
up to 3 mm), but most are indistinct in an orange-brown,
iron oxide-rich matrix of f ine-grained silicates, troilite
and very rare metal. Although the exterior of this
meteorite has experienced only minimal physical
weathering, the interior has undergone chemical
weathering and many f ractures arer f illed with
weathering products. Very f ew shock ef f ects are
present. Silicates appear to be equilibrated. This
meteorite is probably a low-shock, well-equilibrated Lchondrite.
USA Orphaned Met eorit e Images f or Specimen ID# C111120
The above “Bulletin” is just one example of a way in which to record U.S. OC meteorite f inds. Hopef ully,
this compilation will bring attention to the problem of the increasing number of meteorites f ound here in the
USA, not only going unclassif ied, but even going unreported. Hopef ully, some volunteers will of f er to help
establish a database that will document these “orphans”.
In the meanwhile, I will do my part and continue to gather data, and along with others, make a list of what
we know to be “orphaned meteorites”.
References:
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 1 No. 1 — In my f irst Bulletin, I introduced the phrase “orphaned-meteorites f rom the
USA”. I def ined these “orphans” as being unwitnessed-f all Ordinary Chondrite (OC) meteorite “f inds” that
are recovered in the U.S.
Unf ortunately, the vast majority of U.S. f inds are of this type. I went on to write that these U.S. f inds were
being orphaned f rom the f amily of “approved” meteorites f or the f ollowing reasons:
1) The lack of f unding f or U.S. researchers to authenticate, classif y, and document/record these U.S. OC
f inds has resulted in several new [negative]; trends.
2) The increasing trend of commercializing the classif ying of meteorites by U.S. researchers has priced
U.S. OC f inds out of the market, and
3) The increasing trend of U.S. researchers to turn away OC f inds, even when f inders of U.S. OC
meteorites are willing to pay f or their classif ication.
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 1 No. 2 — In my 2nd Bulletin, I went into more detail about why I use the phrase
“orphaned-meteorites f rom the USA”. I f ocused on the lack of U.S.-tax-dollar-f unding and why no f unding
was going towards the classif ication of these particular meteorites. In hindsight, I now realize that I should
have pointed-out that there is also a lack of f unding f or just authenticating and recording that a U.S.
meteorite has been f ound. This f unction should never be conf used with “classif ying” a meteorite, which is
obviously way more labor intensive and costly.
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 1 No. 3 — In my 3rd Bulletin, I proposed the idea of an on-line database f or these
“orphaned” and other unclassif ied U.S. meteorites. This would have to be an all-volunteer ef f ort, much in
the same manner that the American Meteor Society has established the Fireball Reporting System. This
database would give f inders a central point to report their f inds and have a f ield ID number issued to them.
This “Field ID” would ref lect which US state and date of f ind. The f unction of this database should not be
conf used with already established processes of getting a meteorite “classif ied”, which is obviously way
more labor intensive and costly.
Meteoritical Bulletin: the search results f or all provisional meteorites f ound in “USA” – Published by
Meteoritical Society – Meteoritical Bulletin, Database.
Meteorites of Calif ornia the list of f ormally-recognized Calif ornia meteorite f alls and f inds.
“Salinas man f inds meteorites in Nevada” — (© Scott Harlan 7:38 a.m. PDT August 15, 2015) — My
interest in geology probably started with my f ather who was a petroleum geologist. We would go to gem
and mineral shows together and look at all of the spectacular specimens.
METEORITES FOUND ON MISFITS FLAT DRY LAKE
(P. Jenniskens, 2015) — reports on the discovery of meteorites along
the northern shore of the Misf its Flat dry lake near Stagecoach, NV –
Published by Meteoritical Society – 78th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society (2015).
“Mystery at Misf its Flat” — (© 2015 SETI Institute) — An amateur has discovered a trove of meteorites
on Misf its Flat dry lake in Nevada. No meteorites had been f ound at this tiny lakebed bef ore. In an unusual
twist, at least some of those turn out to have f allen less than 300 years ago.
The mission of the SETI Institute is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence
of lif e in the universe.
My previous Bob’s Bulletins can be f ound *HERE*
If you would like to sponsor any of these orphans, and help in the f unding f or getting them classif ied, in order to
get them entered into the Meteoritical Bulletin Database, then please contact me by email:
bolidechaser at yahoo-dot-com
Meteorite Times Magazine
Amoeboid Olivine Aggregates
John Kashuba
Amoeboid olivine aggregates are common millimeter size inclusions in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites.
Some are amoeba shaped, some are more chondrule-like. Their textures and compositions are variable,
too – some appear to be transitional between calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions and some transitional
between chondrules. The olivine is the magnesium-rich end member, f orsterite. It was f ormed not f rom a
melt of precursor dust but as a condensate f rom vapor. Though f ormation was in an environment of nearsolar elemental composition, according to researchers, AOA tend to be low in metal. This might be due to
aerodynamic sorting in the early solar nebula. Still, some AOA are outlined with small blebs of nickel iron.
Typical amoeboid olivine aggregate inclusion in Moss CO3.6. Cross-polarized light. Field of view is 3
millimeters wide.
AOA in Murchison CM2. XPL. FOV=3mm
Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusion and AOA in Allende CV3. XPL. FOV=3mm
Close-up of the same Allende AOA. XPL. FOV=0.3mm
AOA in DaG 1040 CV3. Partially cross-polarized light f or clarity. FOV=3mm
Close-up of the same AOA in DaG 1040 CV3. Partially XPL. FOV=0.3mm
AOA in NWA 3118 CV3 with melt inclusion (dark) containing long crystals. XPL. FOV=3mm
Another AOA in NWA 3118 CV3 with a melt inclusion (lef t center edge of AOA). Partially XPL. FOV=3mm
Close-up of that melt inclusion. Partially XPL. FOV=0.5mm
A third AOA in NWA 3118 CV3 with a melt inclusion. Partially crossed-polarized light to see through the
glassy melt. FOV=3mm
Top portion of that melt inclusion with mineral crystals. The glass contains vesicles. Partially XPL.
FOV=0.5mm
Closer view of that glassy melt inclusion with skeletal crystals implying rapid crystallization. Partially XPL.
FOV=0.25mm
Another close view of the glassy melt inclusion with a crystal appearing ribbon-like and f rayed. Partially XPL.
FOV=0.25mm
Oval f ine-grained AOA (center) in DaG 978 C-ung. XPL. FOV=3mm
Close-up of the same f ine-grained AOA. The AOA is about 0.7mm long. XPL
Another close-up of that f ine-grained AOA, now in incident light to highlight metal blebs.
Norm’s Tektite Teasers: Telescoped Tektite Teardrops.
By Norm Lehrman (www.TektiteSource.com)
One of the more graphic Lei Gong Mo morphologies is the splatted or telescoped teardrop. The
image above presents a developmental sequence (in side view) that nicely illustrates the
concept without much need for verbiage. Years ago I proposed the term “splatform” for
splashform tektites that show plastic impact (or flight) deformation and these telescoped
teardrops were a primary inspiration for the term.
Splatted teardrops come in many variations both in degree of deformation and in angle of
attack. Some show sideways flattening, others show all
shades of oblique collapse, while those illustrated in this
article involved telescoping parallel to the long axis of a
teardrop. During the deformation, the tail is first to
harden due to heat loss related to surface area vs. mass
effects. As the bulbous nose flattened, the already
brittle tail telescoped into the frontal “puddle”.
At early stages of development, a flattened base with an
elongate tail gives rise to a Hershey’s Kiss form (second from
left in the first image). At the most extreme stage, the tail may
be completely engulfed, leaving only a pattern of concentric
rings on the flattened upper surface to record the place where
the tail disappeared into the puddle. This one would be tough
to understand without the developmental sequence. (Any
serious tektite study collection requires every variation on a
theme that one can assemble. In such a context, the story they tell often become obvious.)
Another interesting variation involves a twisting of the tail
relative to the frontal puddle. In this case, it appears that
the entire body was spinning. As the thick and plastic
frontal surface was retarded (or abruptly anchored by
contact with the ground), the brittle tail continued its
inertial spin for a twist or two. This image is a top view of
such a “twister”. In the examples we have inventoried,
there is an approximately equal population of specimens
with clockwise and counter-clockwise senses of spin. While
fine specimens of this sort are to be treasured, they are not
rare.
There is some debate regarding the nature of the surface that the splatforms impacted. I have
always assumed that it was the ground. The basal surface of strongly splatted examples is
typically coarsely pocketed in a manner that reminds me of the texture that forms when molten
metal is poured onto moist ground. However, it is noteworthy that in the many hundreds of
thousands of tektites (likely well over a million---) that we have handled one by one, there is
not a single unequivocal example of an adhering pebble or substrate imprint that one might
reasonably expect when a plastic blob of glass splats onto the ground (as does happen with
Trinitite and Dakhleh glass). Others have proposed that this sort of deformation may result
from interaction with a cushion of compressed air during flight, which would explain a lack of
ground-impact evidence. However, I do find it hard to imagine sufficient spin retardation to
produce a strong differential with the inertial spin of the tail segment.
In this final image, we see a selection of telescoped tektite teardrops from a Hershey’s Kiss on
the left to a flat specimen with a fully engulfed tail on the right. Numbers 7 and 8 have a
depressed concave “moat” around the tail remnant. In numbers 9 and 10, the tail remnant is
reduced to a simple bump.
While I very much enjoy the imagined sounds of big blobs of black glass thudding onto the
ground all around me, the vision of incandescent glass teardrops progressively turning inside
out as they struggle to push through air at high velocities is also quite pleasing. The latter
option is winning me over. Extreme splatform morphologies are found in China, Vietnam, and
Thailand (that I know of for sure---). To expect sufficient heat retention for plastic behavior on
ground impact in a body rarely weighing over 100 grams after hundreds of miles of flight is a
matter of compounded improbabilities. Combine this with the utter and complete lack of any
direct evidence of substrate interaction, and one is left with little alternative but to envision
glowing squadrons vigorously buffeted in headwinds. At sufficiently high speeds the
atmosphere assumes the character of a very dense material. As I struggle to personalize this
phenomenon, my thoughts always turn to a high-speed fall while water-skiing. One can tumble
a very long ways across the stony surface of the water before finding anything at all soft!
Splatforms may well have splatted against the hard face of air.
Meteorite Times Magazine
Star Poop and Meteoritic Water: The Journey of the Trâpeăng Rônoăs Meteorite
Melinda Hutson
By: Melinda Hutson, with Dick Pugh and Alex Ruzicka (Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory)
In early April 2014, a woman lef t a phone message f or Dick Pugh stating that her mother had seen a
meteorite f all in Cambodia and wanted to have it conf irmed. Dick called back and agreed to drive to
Woodland, Washington to meet them and look at their rock. Woodland is about 30 miles north of Portland,
and was about a 100 mile drive f or the rock owners. When he got back to Portland, he called me, said
there were some communication dif f iculties, and asked me to drive to Woodland f or a second meeting.
Dick and I met with Nary Suon, and her daughter Saravy, who acted as a translator. They put a rock on the
table and it was immediately obvious that they had a genuine meteorite. This was the start of about a year
and a half of gradually teasing out the inf ormation needed f or classif ication, which was complicated by the
need to translate f rom Cambodian.
Through Saravy, Nary told us about discovering the meteorite. I began to understand what Dick had
meant by communication dif f iculties. The inf ormation came out in a very non-linear f ashion, with occasional
small details being inconsistent (e.g., directions) when repeated several times. The story we heard that
day is as f ollows:
Nary and a group of relatives and neighbors were preparing a rice f ield f or cultivation on July 4, 2010.
They were eating lunch when they heard a “whoo” sound and thought a bomb was incoming. Nary said she
saw a “breaking rock”, but no light or f ireball, with f ragments f lying dif f erent directions. She visually
f ollowed one piece behind a tree, then saw dust “f ly up” and settle. They went over to investigate and
f ound a large dark stone (~11.3 kg) that gouged a hole in a raised berm between f ields. Everyone f anned
out and f ound two more stones (~1.2 kg and 0.5 kg).
Nary continued by telling us that someone f rom a Cambodian magazine heard about the meteorite and
wrote a story about her nephew and the large stone. Nary started to hear suggestions that a museum
might send someone to take the stones away f rom her, so she locked them in a wooden cabinet in her
house. When she came to the U.S. in 2013, she brought the ~1.2 kg sample with her.
Dick and I explained what inf ormation was needed to classif y the meteorite. The f irst question we had was
“where did it f all?”. The answer was “Campong Speu” (Saravy wrote this f or us), which was either 15 miles
or 15 km (maybe) south of Phlum Ping (?) airport. The three pieces were f ound southwest and southeast
of the large one (maybe). Nary and Saravy gave us photographs taken the day the stones were f ound, a
color photocopy of the Cambodian magazine article, and allowed us to borrow the entire meteorite, so that
it could be weighed, photographed, and cut to provide a type specimen.
Photographs taken in the rice f ield in Cambodia where the ~11.2 kg stone was recovered. Top image: Nary
Suon is in the center wearing a blue shirt. Her nephew, who was interviewed f or the Cambodian magazine is
in black to Nary’s lef t). Bottom image: Villagers standing in the rice f ield. The meteorite is immediately to
their lef t in a berm. There is clear path f rom the top of the berm to the meteorite.
Back at the lab, there was a discussion between myself , Dick, and Alex. Alex serves on the Meteoritical
Society’s nomenclature committee, and is a natural skeptic. While it was clear that we had a real meteorite,
Alex was concerned that it might be a partial hoax, with the stone having been purchased f rom somewhere
else. He pointed out that the sample was clearly rusting, more than might be expected f or a relatively
recent f all. He f ound the f all date of July 4 suspicious, as it is Independence Day here in the U.S. He also
f ound it unlikely that anyone would actually see a meteorite f all and hit the ground. In addition, the details
that we had seemed somewhat vague, without a clear indication of a f ind location. Both Dick and I f elt that
Nary and Saravy were sincere. Dick had asked a lot of questions about the actual f all (sounds, smells,
visuals). It was clear that no one saw a f ireball. The story was consistent with what would be expected f or
the f inal drop of a meteorite. There was also the documentation in the f orm of photos showing the villagers
standing near a large stone, as well as the copy of the magazine article. Alex replied that Nary wasn’t
shown in the magazine article, and that the stone in the photographs was not the stone we had in the lab. I
pointed out that the person in the magazine article was also clearly visible in the photograph with Nary
behind the large stone. Alex said that we needed to get a good f all location. Googling “Campong Speu” got
me to Kampong Speu, which is a f airly large province in Cambodia. There are large numbers of villages with
rice f ields in that province and southwest of the Phnom Penh (not Phlum Ping) airport. We needed more
inf ormation.
First view of the ~1.2 kg stone analyzed by CML. The sample has a nice f usion crust with f low marks,
regmaglypts, and shrinkage cracks.
Second view of the ~1.2 kg stone analyzed by CML. The sample has a nice f usion crust with f low marks,
regmaglypts, and shrinkage cracks. Notice the rust on the base of the stone.
Over the next several months, while we analyzed the meteorite, we managed to get the magazine article
translated. Several details in the article helped provide corroboration of Nary Suon’s story. Reading the
story is somewhat like listening to Saravy’s translation of Nary telling about the f all and f ind of the stone,
suggesting that the inconsistent details were typical of the people who saw the stone f all. The second
paragraph said that the owner of one of the rice f ields saw the rock drop and picked it up. Nary Suon is
that property owner.
The article described in detail the rituals that were perf ormed. Villagers took pictures and saw dif f erent
aspects of God in the rock. Villagers visited, burned incense, and prayed, lending f urther powers to the
stones. They repeatedly poured water over the rocks and drank the water f or its healing powers. The
repeated wetting explains the rusting we observed.
Finally, I ran “8 Roach Sakarach 2554” through Google with a request to translate to a modern calendar. It
came out as July 4 2010, conf irming the date that we’d been given. Things were looking good, but we still
needed the f all location. The article said “the village of Komwill”. No such village exists according to
Google. Nor could I f ind any reasonable variant.
The f irst of two pages of an article describing the f inding of the Trâpeăng Rônoăs meteorite
Translation below:
The rock dropped f rom the sky, M. Choum Pech pointed to the spot where the rock had f allen.
‘It’s amazing the rock dropped f rom the sky!’ he said. The khmer people then yelled out ‘Arch
Pkai!’ meaning star or star poop.
Four of the Cambodian people that saw the rock said it must be a rock f rom the angel that
dropped f rom heaven. An owner of one of the rice f ields saw the rock drop and picked up the
rock and put it in a glass cabinet. Once the rock was in the cabinet, the people in the village
poured water on the rock as it set in the cabinet. As the water f lowed over the rock, they took the
water and used it as medicine as they f elt it had healing powers.
It was 11:03 am on 2010. 8 Roach Sakarach 2554. This is the year of the buddah. At this time the
rock dropped f rom the sky into the village Komwill. Mr. Choumpach saw the rock drop f rom the sky
and approached the rock with his wif e. He and his wif e have a 1 year old son. The son was born
on the year of the pig. They have a wonderf ul marriage and f amily. His wif e has a job and works at
a f actory. Prior to the rock f alling f rom the sky, the wif e had a dream that her husband was
building a house and two ox came into the house and the husband hit the two ox and killed one of
them instantly. The next morning af ter the wif e had the dream, the rock had f allen f rom the sky.
The rock had f allen f rom the sky and when it hit the ground it sounded like a big bomb. The people
said there was a loud ‘pop’ in the sky and then they saw the dirt f ly way up in the air. They said
there was a hole of around 200 yards f rom people and when the rock hit the ground they all ran
f or cover as they thought they were being attacked by a bomb. Once the rock settles some of the
courageous people approached the area where the rock had f allen to see what this strange thing
f rom the sky was. One of the people was Mr. Choum pech. At f irst, he did not see anything but
then he began to dig in the area where it had f allen. Af ter he dug over a half a yard, he saw the
strange rock. It had a black color and it wasn’t smooth. It looked like a chopping rock. The rock
was large and weighed 11.3 kilos. He put the rock on him motorcycle and he brought the rock to
his house.
Once he brought the rock to his house, he wanted to use it as a knif e sharpener. Everyone in the
village was f ascinated by the rock and came to see it. They would come and rub and pour water
on the rock. As they poured the water on the rock, the water started to bubble on the rock and
they believed the rock had spiritual powers. They believed it must be f rom heaven.
The wif e had another dream. She dreamed about an angel that told her the f lowers grow in the
water and that the rock was f rom god. Mr. Choumpach is 49 years old. He would drink the water
that f lowed f rom the rock all the time. When the rock f ell f rom the sky, he heard a sound in the sky
f or three minutes and then a loud ‘pop’! and then if f ell to the ground. He also believed it was a
gif t f rom the spirits. When they took the picture of the rock, they saw God in the rock. They took
a lot of pictures of the rock and each one was dif f erent when they developed them. They saw
buddah in the pictures and the ‘palm’ of God in the pictures. People came f rom all over to see the
rock, including 7 temples which consisted of many priest. They all came to pray and give the rock
spiritual direction. There were a lot of visitors f rom the city of f ices to come and see the rock and
they all said they never seen anything like this rock bef ore. They said the rock was f rom another
planet. The old lady name ‘Satee’ who is 85 years old said ‘I’ve never seen anything like this
bef ore’ and she believed the rock was f rom heaven. When the rock f ell, she heard the loud ‘pop’
when it hit the ground. The old lady named Koonsy, who is 64 years old is Mr. Choumpach’s
mother in law. She announced that the whole village heard the sound f or 10 miles away. She said
it was very loud. She said the dirt f lew way into the air and everyone thought it was a bomb and
began to hide. Everyday they burn incense and pray to the rock because they believe the angel
dropped the rock f rom the sky to help the people and shield them f rom illness and make them
healthy. There was another old man who went to the rice f ield and heard the rock f all f rom the
sky. The place where it dropped there were no mountains around. He believed the rock is f rom
the angel. There was an old lady who was f rom a dif f erent province who came to the area and
prayed f or everyone in the village. She f elt since they got the water f rom the rock and drink it,
they are f eeling healthy.
For approximately one year, Dick went back and f orth with Nary and Saravy, trying to pinpoint the location
of the village. This involved numerous phone calls, images and maps sent through the mail, and two more
drives up to Woodland. At various times, he was told the village was “Konwill area”, “Komwill area”, “Kong
Pesei area”, “Kong Pisie area”, “Prey Khlong”. We were told it was south of highway 4, east of highway 41,
and west of highway 3. Sketches were drawn showing the two smaller stones in a vee-shape going south
f rom the big stone, east f rom the big stone, and north f rom the big stone. Searches f or “Prey Khlong”
came up with a location that was nowhere near the highways that Nary ref erred to. None of the other
names turned up during searches. We printed out maps of the areas bordered by the various highways
that had been names and mailed them to Washington. Nary was unable to interpret what was shown in the
Google map images. Nor were more conventional maps that I downloaded any better. She needed a
Cambodian map, which she said she’d get on her next visit to Cambodia.
In late summer 2015, Nary returned to Cambodia and obtained a map of the area (“Administrative Map of
Kong Pisei District, Kampong Speu Province 2011-2012” it says in English). Almost everything on the map
is written in the Khmer script (Cambodian). There are a f ew places written in the English alphabet. There
are co-ordinates on the map, but they aren’t latitude and longitude. We’re still not sure what co-ordinates
are being used. With the map in f ront of her, Nary pointed out a red dot at an intersection, and highlighted
the name in Yellow. The dot turned out to be “Kong Pisei” (on itouchmap.com) and a name on Google
Earth that I could copy and paste into a Google translator, which produced “Pisey”. Eight kilometers to the
northeast of “Kong Pisei”, Nary marked two locations as being the locations where the ~11.3 kg and ~1.2
kg stones had been picked up. The location f or the larger stone had “Trapeang Roneah” (no diacritical
marks) written on the map in English. About two to three kilometers to the northweast of “Trapeang
Roneah”, was a location with a name in the Khmer alphabet, which Nary said was called “Prey Klong” and is
the location where the medium-sized stone was recovered. She was unsure of the f ind location of the
smallest (0.5 kg) stone. It is either to the northwest of the ~1.2 kg stone or to the southeast of the ~1.2 kg
stone, but the three stones make a vee- shape with the largest at the vertex of the vee.
We were able to f ind the two locations marked on the Cambodian map on Google Earth and obtain
latitude/longitude co-ordinates f or the two larger stones. I was ready to go with “Trapeang Roneah” f or
the proposed name, but Alex said no. The nomenclature committee would require a more authoritative
source. So we went to geonames.org and located the same area. There was a tag f or location of the
larger stone. Clicking it came up with the f ollowing as a name: Phumĭ Trâpeăng Rônoăs (alternates: Phumĭ
Trâpeăng Rônaôs and Phum Trâp Ronéah). There was no tag f or the medium-sized stone. So we
submitted the meteorite to the nomenclature committee f or approval as Trapeang Ronoas. Af ter some
debate via e-mail as to whether or not “Phumi” was important (it appears to stand f or something like “town”,
as in town of Trapeang Ronoas), the meteorite was approved as Trâpeăng Rônoăs (they wanted to keep
the diacritical marks).
Af ter the classif ication became of f icial as an H4 chondrite, Nary Suon met one more time with Dick in
Woodland, WA. Nary had retrieved the large stone f rom Cambodia and brought it f or Dick to photograph,
which he did on a sheet in the back of his pickup truck, with a rock hammer f or scale.
The two larger pieces of the Trâpeăng Rônoăs meteorite. The smaller of the two shows a cut f ace, where
sample was removed f or analysis and to provide a type specimen.
The very rusty f ace of the larger meteorites resulting f rom ritual use in Cambodia.
The journey of the Trâpeăng Rônoăs meteorite has been remarkable. Af ter being blasted of f an asteroid
and entering the Earth’s atmosphere as venerated “star poop”, it was inf used with spiritual powers and
ritually washed to provide “meteoritic waters”. Then the meteorite made its way across the Pacif ic to a
scientif ic institution f or study. It took a quite a bit longer than anyone wanted to tease out all of the
inf ormation needed to provide an of f icial name f or the meteorite. But the journey is not yet complete.
While the type specimen has f ound a home with the Cascadia Meteorite lab, no one knows what may lie in
store f or the remaining pieces.
Meteorite Times Magazine
James D. Kriegh
Paul Harris
In Memory of
James D. Kriegh
1928 – 2007
Photo courtesy of Ruben Garcia
Meteorite-Times was blessed with the opportunity to interview Jim Kriegh in October 2006. Jim was loved
by all and although now gone he will never be f orgotten.
Meteorite-Times (MT) What or who got you interested in meteorites and how old were you when you got
your f irst meteorite?
James (Jim) Kriegh (JK) I was 63 years old when early in 1992 I got interested in hunting f or gold with a
metal detector. I f irst went with a f riend, John Martin. John Martin and John Blennert regularly hunted
together so I was given the opportunity to join them. I was f ortunate to be going with such an expert as
John Blennert as he soon taught me how to best use the metal detector. As a result of this activity I joined
a local gold club. One of the speakers was Dr. David Kring who discussed and described meteorites and
indicated he thought that many stone meteorites could be f ound with a metal detector. I paid attention to
what he said and started picking up those “hot rocks”. In 1995 I had several hot rocks that I was curious
about so I contacted Bob Haag. Even though I had never met Bob, he was courteous and invited me over
so he could look at my hot rocks. I had about 10 to show him and as was usual when people brought him
rocks to look at none were meteorites. When he was walking me to my car I suddenly remembered I had a
small rock in my pocket that was a hot rock but it was the least likely thing that I thought would be a
meteorite so I had kept it separate f rom the other rocks. I did want to ask him a question about it,
however. When I pulled it out of my pocket and showed it to Bob, he immediately said “that looks like a
meteorite”. He asked if he could cut it, I said yes and we went back to the house cut it. He identif ied it as
a meteorite and encouraged me to take it to Dr. Kring at the University of Arizona Lunar & Planetary
Laboratory. This I did. I gave Bob part of it and, of course, the Lunar & Planetary Lab kept part and I still
have a piece of it. It is called the Greaterville meteorite.
(MT) Do you have special areas of interest that you f ocus on in regards to meteorites (thin sections,
photography, chemistry, age dating, etc.)?
(JK) My particular interest is hunting f or meteorites. I love to be outdoors and have spent much of my lif e
in the outdoors. I need something to do when I am hiking around so I am always looking f or anything of
interest.
I do have some thin sections and a microscope that allows me to view them. I don’t really know what I am
seeing except that they quite colorf ul and attractive.
(MT) Does your Family share in your interest in meteorites?
(JK) My wif e died in 1991 and that in part got me going out metal detecting. I wanted to keep busy. My
children are grown and with their own f amilies. They all express interest in my hobby and are glad that I
have such a hobby. My son joined me one day when I was in Gold Basin and he did f ind a meteorite.
(MT) Do you have any special approaches to collecting? (Type collection, only stones, only irons, only by
aesthetics, etc. or any and all that you like.)
(JK) My approach to collecting was to obtain dif f erent types. That is the way I have them displayed in my
cabinet. There became too many types f or me to consider pursuing obtaining new meteorites f or that
purpose, now it is ones that I just happen to see, like and can af f ord.
(MT) Do you mind saying how many locations your collection represents?
(JK) While I have my collection recorded I don’t know how many locations they represent. I have
meteorites f rom many dif f erent countries. The ones I have f ound are f rom Arizona and Nevada.
(MT) In what ways do you use your computer f or meteorites?
(JK) I have used the computer to type up my inventory of meteorites, to watch the emails on the meteorite
list, to check the sales on Ebay, and to read the Meteorite Times.
(MT) How did you start hunting f or meteorites?
(JK) Af ter I had f ound the Greaterville meteorite, I was hunting f or gold with John Blennert in the Gold
Basin area during which time I picked up ‘hot rocks’ and brought many home. Af ter cutting the rocks it was
discovered that two were meteorites. This was the beginning of the establishment of the Gold Basin
meteorite strewn f ield. For the next two years John Blennert, Twink Monrad and I hunted and mapped the
meteorite strewn f ield. Af ter the two years the f ind was announced to the public. I do have the f irst Gold
Basin meteorite that was identif ied. I also have f ound meteorites at the Franconia Strewn f ield, Holbrook,
Dos Cabezas, as well in select areas of Nevada. I am always looking when out wandering around in the
desert.
Photo courtesy of Twink Monrad
(MT) What is your f avorite meteorite in your collection?
(JK) I have, of course, a certain prejudice f or the Gold Basin meteorites and one of my f avorites is one
that I f ound in Gold Basin called White Hills which is a mesosiderite. I do like a lot of the others I have as
many do have special things to see when you look at them closely.
White Hills Mesosiderite – Photo courtesy of Twink Monrad
(MT) What meteorites are currently on your wish list?
(JK) None, unless I could happen to f ind some of the Tucson Ring.
(MT) What methods have been most successf ul in building your collection? (Buying at shows, f rom
dealers by mail, auctions on the web, trading… etc)
(JK) I started my collection by trading Gold Basin with dealers. I occasionally buy over ebay and I
generally buy more at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.
(MT) Do you also collect related materials like impact glasses, breccias, melts, tektites, shocked f ossils,
native iron rocks etc?
(JK) I do have tektites, impactite, and shatter cone materials f rom various sites.
(MT) Do you prepare any of your own specimens? (cut, polish, etch, etc.)
(JK) I do cut my own specimens and I can etch and polish. I don’t try to polish stone meteorites very
of ten as I like how the surf ace looks if I cut slowly with my saw. I do polish iron meteorites bef ore I etch
the surf ace.
(MT) Have you had to take any special measures to protect them f rom the environment?
(JK) My specimens have no special protection f or those in my house in the cabinet or f or those in the
saf e. I try to keep them where I can enjoy looking at them.
I want to add that the biggest reward f or f inding the Gold Basin strewn f ield has been meeting so many
people and developing many new f riendships.
Meteorite Times Magazine
Jim Kriegh’s Favorite Gold Basin Meteorite Specimen
Paul Harris
Our Meteorite of the Month is kindly provided by Tucson Meteorites who hosts
The Meteorite Picture of the Day.
Jim Kriegh’s f avorite Gold Basin specimen. Half way down the right
side is an indentation that looks like a heart. Courtesy of Twink
Monrad. Photo by Katherine Rambo.
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Once a few decades ago this opening
was a framed window in the wall
of H. H. Nininger's Home and
Museum building. From this
window he must have many times
pondered the mysteries of
Meteor Crater seen in the distance.
Photo by © 2010 James Tobin