Sparks fly over meteorite

JC, Fairbanks, AK — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:18:24 GMT

I suspect doubt is going to swirl around this whole event for a long time; more than one thing 'stinks' about it. First, accounts from the local people are largely inconsistent with a meteor strike. Second, instead of a team of meteoritics experts descending on the site within hours and carefully exploring and documenting it, it has now been weeks since the event and it sounds like it has been trampled and picked over by the locals, apparently including the police. (I wonder where the scientific community is....) In addition, even if UA-LPL *does* find that they are meteorites, their *true* provenance will remain *highly* open to question. Thus, as far as scientific value goes, alot of THAT has already been compromised (IF it IS an impact site, of which I have not seen anything convincing).

Sparks fly over meteorite

red pill junkie, Mexico city — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 01:51:33 GMT

I know not much about meteorites, but if it is indeed a chondrite meteorite what fell on Peru, then it is very valuable, both in scientific and market terms (from my understanding, carbonaceous chondries are rare remnants of the time the solar system was forming, so you get the idea); and in that case the guy paid pennies for the samples he acquired.

I really would like to see this mystery properly solved.

Sparks fly over meteorite

Carl E. Tucson, AZ — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 02:05:28 GMT

The following is a list of reasons that need to be reported as to why this is such an important and significant authentic meteorite fall. Perhaps one of the most important in modern history;
-------
1) Fresh fall / no weathering yet. Not a mere find.
2) Museum quality specimens/ pieces were picked up quickly.
3) Scientific value / Can be studied and is being studies by Nasa and University of Arizona's famous Dolores Hill.
4) Historic value / First ever FALL recorded in Peru.
5) First ever to cause underground spring water to boil.
6) "Hammer" / Did damage to something man made. Hit a roof.
7) Witnessed Fall.
8) Had a very bad odor. Only one other known to smell bad is Murchison.
9) made people sick after smelling . But quickly subsided.
10) Caused a huge crater over 10 meters. And was not an Iron variety fall.
11) appears to have completely exploded on impact leaving very few remains.
12) May be a Rare type of meteorite
13) Very Limited amount of material available for sale.
14) loud detonation ,sounds scared a lot of people.
15) May be the first witnessed fall of this type of meteorite
16) Shattered windows in local health center 1 kilo away.
17) Highest altitude that a meteorite has ever been found.
18) Hit at such a high altitude that it may have still been smoking.
19) Mike Farmer nearly caused an international incident? Yeah! Made lots of press.
20) first actual seismic recording of a terrestrial meteorite impact.

Sparks fly over meteorite

Trent Dufon, Montague, MI — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 03:02:20 GMT

Obviously, the right person didn't get paid, or there would be no dispute over rocks, the real stink is in human nature, not in the crater.

Sparks fly over meteorite

Des Emery, St. Thomas, ON< Canada — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 03:27:28 GMT

Looking at the picture, I have to wonder... It doesn't really appear to be an impact crater. The water looks pretty old, not newly collected, with algae clumps and a well-defined border. The edges of the crater seem to be well-grown with weeds and grass, neither of them burned or even singed, although the meteor was reported to be a hot one. And could those scrapes on the opposite side of the ridge be from a backhoe or bulldozer?

Sparks fly over meteorite

Amiga — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 03:45:02 GMT

These meteor hunters do a service sometimes to the scientific community.
But sometimes greed gets the better of people.

Pay no more than 10 dollars a gram for pieces of the Carancas meteorite.

Sparks fly over meteorite

Ron A — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 03:47:41 GMT

Unfortunately, this meteorite had the audacity to fall in what is virtually still a third world country and once you get to where it fell, it is beyond third world. Poor people, corrupt police, bandits, rebels, and people wonder where the scientific community is? They are staying far far away as they would have to bribe the local police to even dig a bit, and then they would never get to take anything they dug up away. The local police and others realize what meteorites sell for and have a plan for this one I can assure you. Unless the Peruvian military steps in, you won't see or hear anything of this one until it shows up in some rich guys collection.

Sparks fly over meteorite

Dennis Carey Indianapolis,IN. — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 05:19:09 GMT

I have a meteorite that I found in Charleston,S.C. last year,but I don't know how to market it or how to price it.It's slightly larger than a softball, but weighs app. 12-16 lbs. If anyone's interested, E mail me.My mobility is limited until I get a lung transplant (VERY soon), but I can e-mail photos if someone's interested.

Sparks fly over meteorite

katydid1952, Palmer Alaska — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 08:06:33 GMT

Doesn't look to me like the crater is big enough for a 10-ton "moving van." What say you Alan?

Sparks fly over meteorite

Thomas Lee Elifritz — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:00:10 GMT

It was a hypersonic hypervelocity meteor impact. It penetrated deep into the ground, releasing a lot of energy in the form of heat, entrained a lot of atmospheric gases into the debris and cooked. It's no wonder the first people on the scene got sick. It certainly wasn't mass hysteria. The only mass hysteria I've seen from this event is the prognositications of the ignorant - the mass hysteria and volcanic explanations are particularly amusing.

Get over it.

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Ruben Vasquez — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:02:41 GMT

Ok, I also don't know anything about meteor but my question is, can Peru be like a portal from other planet? but this is not what is important here but the waste of information that scientists can get from that meteor. why why the scientific community isn't working in a law to seize any of meteor that fall any where in the world for the sake of the future and the past. This is something so important that it can be waste just like that. I never hear before of a meteor like this emitting odor, making people sick. how about if this is something more powerful than a meteor something that can destroy humanity, and we play with this and try to make profit out of this somehow? we're still primitive about these things and now we probably have the chance of our existing in our hand and look what's going on a bunch of farmers are in the way. this is just plain ridiculous.

Sparks fly over meteorite

vicky hahn Tigard Oregon — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:16:59 GMT

Very good article and interesting to those of us who don't know much. My question is, is Farmer an honest man? Brave he is, but is he honest and what is his gain in all this?

Sparks fly over meteorite

Guy S. Newell — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:40:37 GMT

Peru doesn't really exist. This whole part of the world map is a fabrication to hide various alien landing sites. The story of the "meteor" is a cover for a bad landing by one of thier spacecraft. If you examine the picture closely you can see alien safety investigators in the background.

Sparks fly over meteorite

Alan Boyle — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:13:34 GMT

A couple of things I should add:

- Farmer does sell meteorite specimens, so that's how he makes his money, and that's a natural part of his interest in the Peru case.

- I did ask around about his credentials. He freely admits he's a collector, not a scientist ... but the couple of experts I checked with in the part of the scientific community that deals with meteorites say he's "legit."

- The fragments that Farmer (and others) collected were not from that watery hole itself. Farmer noted that pieces of the rock were thrown out as far as 100 yards away. The damage to the house in the village was done by clay thrown up by the impact.

- I can't judge how big of a crater a 10-ton moving van might make, but the hole is thought to be pretty big ... more than 30 feet wide. Keep in mind also that the picture above was taken two weeks after the fireball. With the onset of the rainy season, the crater is expected to fill in with water and mud and cave in on itself.

Sparks fly over meteorite

Andrew Shelley, Denver, Colorado — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:51:16 GMT

Rotten eggs smell is hydrogen sulfide, and yes, it can make people sick.

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EMH — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 07:12:24 GMT

Holy freakin crap are some of you people for real? Peru doesn't exist? Aliens in the background? A portal from another planet? Wow. I don't know whether to laugh at the ridiculousness of some of the claims on this thread or to cry over the apparent stupidity of the human race.

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victoras St Udio — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:52:59 GMT

instead of digging or excavating
why not start with pumping out the water?

put a dome or tent over the pit
drain it out
put up a turnstile
make money from it like the hole in AZ

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
oh,
that 12-16 lb oversize softball sized meteorite
found at charleston SC...
are you certain that isn't cannon shot?

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AJ, Blue Mountains, New South Wales — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 01:03:54 GMT

The photo caption seems to be hedging its bets. "Meteorite hunter Michael Farmer kneels at the rim of a crater in Peru," not "the crater." Someone's not sure it's the definite article.

Sparks fly over meteorite

SEK, Portland, Or. — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 04:34:40 GMT

It could be the "flap" is over not handling the situation properly. With Farmer this is a real possibility

Sparks fly over meteorite

Rogue Forest — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 05:05:11 GMT

I never hear before of a meteor like this emitting odor
This is a special class of Meteorite, mentioned often in the KJV Bible
Gen 19:24
Job 18:15
Psa 11:6
Isa 30:33...describes an impact by eyewitness
Eze 38:22...on and on, the point here is this; the inhabitants of Peru got off lucky, this type usually hits over broad areas cause widespread damage.
also these links can also help
http://www.lpod.org/?m=20071002 for cutting edge info
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/tools/ for crater computational tools. Hope that helps some.

Sparks fly over meteorite

Jay T, Higgins, YC — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 06:03:08 GMT

That crater looks more like it was made using 4 or 5 cases of explosives and det-cord than a meteorite (10 Tons ?????). If it would have hit the ground at hypervelocity, the meteorite would have excavated the crater and probably leveled the nearby village. The sonic boom would have been heard for no telling how far away.

Sparks fly over meteorite

E. Jones, Louisville, TN — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 01:20:11 GMT

There is no doubt this is a meteorite and all the uninformed posters above are just making small talk. Amazing the number of armchair experts who always throw out bizzare comments from the privacy of their computer screens.

Farmer's detractors are spitting sour grapes because they weren't smart enough to keep up with him and his amazing success. Many are trying to hide their own greed and illegal activities. Mike buys wholesale and sells retail, only unlike Sears or Walmart he ALWAYS insures that adequate samples get into the hands of the scientific community. I have followed his career, he knows the market, he knows that he might have to make 5 trips to find a legitimate meteorite and those costs have to be covered in his margins. Mike pays a good price to the owner frequently many year's worth of income in 3rd world countries. No one mentioned that he gave the young man who took the smoke trail photos enough money to buy a top line digital camera that would have taken him 10 years to save up for.

The ineptitude of the local authorities and University "experts" does the most harm to the science that they lament as b eing cheated. For Example Tagish Lake in Canada who's Academic recovery team let 99% sink to the bottom of a frozen lake rather than accept help; Oriquel Portugal who's geologist threw the main mass in a trash can; Park Forrest, Illinois Police who confiscated from Mike a $6000 stone bought from the legitimate owner. In this case at hand the state researchers have made no effort to recover possibly the largest stone meteorite ever witnessed. Like the Canadians they would rather it all be lost to science to share with anyone else.

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Joseph Piatt — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 02:02:29 GMT

I'd hardly call the Bible a valid scientific reference, Rogue.

I feel for the people of Peru for the loss of some of their artifacts, but when they pull things like this, limiting access from scientists, it really annoys me. If they're not willing to allow research, in what way do they think they even deserve their historical artifacts? We would've been so much better off if this had struck a developed nation, even if it would've caused loss of life. At least we would be able to research it.

Sparks fly over meteorite

ashly — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 02:40:39 GMT

I think it is very serious and should be looked into. who knows what diseases it has brought, it could be an alien craft landed in there. we do not know how big all et craft are or it could be a probe. i think it needs digging up quick and should be examined.

Sparks fly over meteorite

DAWKn earp calif. — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 05:04:05 GMT

several years ago ,i and a friend saw a huge glowing-green round moon like object enter the atmosphere,which lit up the entire nevada-carson city desert.
there was no impact or crash heard,as only silence was the affect after this glowing object from space dissapeared into the horizon.
consider many other sightings of just such an mysterious object were also described...exactly like i described it.
hence; might there be some kind of 'alien transporter' shaped of like maner,used by 'migrating' aliens from other planets,'moving' their goods ,like a stellar moving-van,into areas like underground research labs?
and did this 'interstellar moving van' go astray? and did they black ops dudes try to cover it up,from meddeling 'jonezy' typed tucson star rock dealers like 'farmer'?
just my impression,sorry if you haven't done your homework.

Sparks fly over meteorite

B, Cary, NC — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 05:19:54 GMT

Anyone else uneasy about a metorite that left a crater the size of a bus not being picked up at all by telescopes and such? Who cares about man-made global warming 100yrs away, get some telescopes in the southern hemisphere before a 20km asteroid blindsides us!

Sparks fly over meteorite

Adam, Brisbane, Australia — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 06:05:23 GMT

Ten tons of chondritic stone would deccelerate quite a bit on the way through the atmosphere. It would not have impacted at "hypervelocity" - whatever that means. I'm surprising a chondrite that big didn't disintergrate and explode miles up like most big stony fireballs.

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John Doe, Seattle, Wash. — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:18:35 GMT

> In the wake of Farmer's flight, some have branded
> him as an "opportunistic confrontational
> collector," a money-grubbing Yankee taking
> advantage of Peru's poor. The Peruvian newspaper La
> Republica compared the meteorite caper to the long-
> running flap over Machu Picchu artifacts, and
> bemoaned the "loss of national patrimony."

... I don't normally quote and comment such reports, but something similar happened in the past in Portugal at the end of 1998 with the Ourique meteorite.

Perhaps it would be better that an international standard for meteorite hunters was drawn up by the U.N. to avoid such 'salvage' operations, and that international meteorite hunters should not run to the bottom of the local adminstration hierarchy with hard cash for recently discovered national (and international?) scientific resources.

Flying in, throwing 'lots of money' around in a non-national currency, and leaving the country without speaking to the government authorities is ill-mannered at the very least. Portugal and Peru do not rate as large international assets to America, but normally they each offer a friendly relationship.

In my opinion, the activities of international meteorite hunters in general need to be better controlled by domestic and international authorities.

Disorganisation and slow reactions of local authorities (near the impact sites) do not justify the behaviour of individuals who would exploit the circumstances in foreign territories to remove scientifically and financially materials valuable without developing a documented accord with the appropriate government agencies of those territories.

In both cases, Portugal and Peru, it appears - and please correct me if I am wrong - that Mike left the country with the collected materials before offering to sell it to the universities and laboratories (poor as they maybe in American eyes) at 'international market prices'.

"Patrimony" is national. Not international. Not fair game. The criticism given about local scientific resources having poor finances can be responded to by saying that the new meteorite is a valuable resource that can assist science in Peru and South America for many years to come; leaving the country without offering those collected meteorite fragments to the Peruvian government, nor the local scientific community, does not 'help' Peru at all.

Mike Farmer has been selling samples of 'Ourique' since 1999, after becoming the source that Universities around the world turned to for tiny fragments of that material. In one day, (his own report states), he collected the vast majority of the material that fell there - paying the local villagers to bring it to him in a café - and then left the country the same day.

How much 'help' has this given the Portuguese?
How much 'help' did this give Mike Farmer?

America holds up their own entrepreneurs as heroes and within their borders this is socially acceptable, (even if regularly hottly debated).

Beyond their own borders all entrepreneurs should show respect to the cultures they enter, and not exploit local ignorance and disorganisation. In the above report the Peruvian locals are described as being affected by mass hysteria, but their mental condition is not a consideration of 'good business'.

Beyond their borders, all meteorite hunters should consider themselves guests of the local government, (in their hands), and not tourists on a treasure hunt for a bargain from a local 'bazaar'.

Obviously, if they feel the need to run across international borders to escape local police, (assumedly admistering local justice and protecting local resources), it is because they have not researched their work sufficiently to create the correct conditions to satisfy the national, (and then the local), authorities of their credentials and good intentions.

These are not 'state lines'; there is no FBI juristiction. These are nations, national borders, and therefore such activities are 'international incidents' for which the cause and consequences should be investigated fully, and any losses compensated for satisfactorily.

Personally, I have held a peice of 'Ourique' in my own hands, in the village where it fell. The gentleman who showed me his meteorite remembered the American who arrived shortly after the meteorite fell, and told me that all the villagers know how much money the American has made from them in the years since.

The peice I held is perhaps the last peice left in the local area, and the gentleman who owns it said he would not sell it for all of the ten thousand dollars Mike says he had paid the village that day. He prefers to pass it down to his son, so they will remember the story ... and the lesson.

Inheritance. Heritage. Patrimony.

In the long term, perhaps it will turn out that leaving the rocks (and other artifacts) where they are discovered would provide more benefit to the world generally, than they could ever provide a single individual.

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billie bob , horseneck, maine — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:16:29 GMT

these media's should be stuttied and then
lunched on a roket back inta space for
otha's to injoy.

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Randall Gregory - Arequipa,Peru — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:34:21 GMT

My name is Randall Gregory (American). I was at the crater before Mike Farmer and had communications with him before he flew to Bolivia. [...] Today is my first day back from Carancas and I have been working with the local government to cover and protect the crater. Mr. Farmer's credibility with the scientific community is waning rapidly. The proof to these claims will be made available soon.

Randall

[Some of the comments have been edited out to keep the temperature of the discussion from rising too high. But for further details about the controversy, you can check out the Living in Peru Web site. Of course, Randall (or Michael) are welcome to post further, but the comments should not attack the comments of others or impugn the reputations of others. - AB]

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Michael Farmer — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:24:43 GMT

Regarding the Ourique post, hey buddie, I arrived in APRIL 1999, FOUR months after the fall. The meteorite pieces were laying on the ground, rusting. I bought pieces from the locals like you say, that is not in dispute. Now, do you feel that four months is not giving locals a chance? The Portuquese scientits came to Ourique just after the fall, took a few pieces, and never looked back. The only outcry came after I started selling.

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John Doe, Seattle, Wash. — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 11:30:43 GMT

Ethics. Morals. Education. Good manners. Diplomacy. Negociation. Business. Profit.

Read from left to right. I know it is difficult to see the people who have been exploited, beyond all the greenbacks you make, but try. Try harder.

The area of Portugal you visited is comparable to the better areas of Peru. Poor. The profit you made from those people, but not explaning your intentions nor the potential value of the rusty stones laying on the ground, could purchase up to ten of their residences.

How many houses were in that village, Mike?

The ground that you collected the meteorite from does not belong to you, your country, or anybody but the people who belong to that community. The fact that there was no fences, does not make it public.

Did you check at the local council?

If you would like me to discover who the land belonged to so that you may now apologise and make compensation to them, just let me know. I would be delighted to return some pride, self esteem, reassurance and benefit to the local community whom you purposefully made fools of almost a decade ago.

Ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law, but it makes good business, good profit, for those who choose to remain ignorant of the consequences of their actions. Those who criticise corruption, disorganisation and under-funded academic communities, and use all these weeknesses to their own advantage to extract valuable objects before the rightful owners (or patrons) understand their value.

How much difference you could have made in Aldeia dos Pinheiros, (village of round houses, round houses that are remnants of the earliest human settlements in the country), if you had made arrangements to share the profits with the local community ... to establish a local museum (in your own name, if you had liked) with an exhibition of Ourique and other meteorites and documentaries about your visit and intervention in the protection and study of the fallen space rock. How much money could you and the villagers made from tourism? The village is near a major route to the Algarve, and could have attracted many curious visitors ... especially during the years immediately following as many other 'rock hounds' followed in your 'could have been respectable' footsteps.

But no. Just greenbacks. Single day, in and out, hit and run.

You called me your buddie, but I am not. I doubt that many are. One day, (perhaps all it would take is just one day), you could change all that.

Read from left to right. The profit could last much longer than the cash. Good luck.

Oh ... finally ... 'scientists' are your clients Mike. Be careful. Be nice. Four months was not long enough to convince local academic authorities to fund (from a very small and inflexible budget) further research of the recovered rocks, and you did not inform anybody here that you would be kind enough to recover them 'on behalf of' the local academic community.

If you had done, you might have been turned down and denied permission to approach the site, buddie.

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John Doe, Seattle, Wash. — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 00:36:26 GMT

Correction: "Aldeia de Palheiros"

Sorry for the diatribe, but someone had to say something. Pride and embarrassment kept this subject silent for years, but the same situation is being repeated and it cannot go on being ignored.

Mike, I notice that your 'Ourique Adventure' has been removed from your site. Please put it back online. Other rock hunters need to learn from it, (and it is here: http://www.space.com/peopleinterviews/mfarmer_000430.html ).

One day, perhaps while you are busy exhibiting your rocks and telling your tall stories from from home, twenty kilos of rock with properties unseen in any other known sample will fall in your back yard.

While your trusted neighbour calls the police to report a plume of smoke rising from your garden, another neighbour will remove the fallen rock and sell it on ebay before you arrive home. Perhaps he will write a weblog about it from his new home in a beautiful extradition exempt country, telling how you missed a real opportunity, and how he was so clever to get the rock out before you, (patron), could.

Perhaps that day, you will feel the dismay, the foolish awakening, the injustice.

Perhaps he will sell a peice of that rock at a substantial profit to a university near where you live, and people will rush to see the 'Farmer' meteorite. Perhaps you will buy a peice for your collection, and become philosophical about it all.

Or perhaps you will wimper, cry, scream and tantrum about your 'lost patromony' on every meteorite website in the world. At the same time, your 'fortunate neighbour' will extend his weblog to explain that it was a fresh fall and he was oblidged to retrieve it before it became contaminated by the sewer pipes running under your garden. His service to the scientific community far outweighing his trespass onto your property to remove the valuable artifact that 'never really belonged to Mike; he did not even know what was there'. Further, selling it at a profit was good business and a means to recover all his expenses in time, effort, and internet advertising.

You, on the other hand, might feel/believe that the you had been robbed; that the rock did belong to you; or that you expected the scientists (not scientits) to do their working slowly and thoroughly and that the fallen object would contribute to the community, (local, national, global), in understanding that tonnes of rock are crashing on to the planet surface every year and it is time that more people understood the impact of the impacts, historical and potential.

"Dom Quihote and Sancho Pansa" are going to fight "Apophis". Maybe they are mad. Maybe they are obsessively loyal. Maybe they will win a war that nobody will agree had begun.

The patrons of that café in Aldeia de Pinheiros, Ourique understand the meaning of 'a near miss'. If 'your' rock had arrived on Earth one minute later, it could have crashed through the café, hit the 'primative' gas bottle providing heat to those still celebrating Christmas, and put them all in holes in the ground.

These rocks are so much more important than cash. Confusing their value with commercial objectives is dangerous to all of us in the long term.

Meteorites have been stolen from established exhibits in America, Europe and Russia in the past five years.

Scientific evidence, disappeared, because certain people saw quick cash instead of more valuable story each of these travelling rocks has to tell people: "Heads up, the sky has more than pretty stars"

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Michael Farmer — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 02:00:42 GMT

John Doem, since you are too cowardly to even use your name, your comments are laughable. Since I had permission of the LANDOWNER in Portugal, I doubt that I needed much more. He watched as I picked up pieces, I bought other from him.
This unending crying by people like you is normal, sad people who cry about the deeds of other who are successful.
What is your name? Why are you so against me, yet unwilling to post your own name? I smell a competitor, and someone who is mad that I beat them.
Again, with permission of the landowner, in Portugal, that is ALL I NEED! Get that through your skull, same in the USA.
Four months the meteorite pieces lay in the dirt, rusting in the rain. Yup, great study going on there. Now pieces are in museums and collections around the world, due to me, not you, me!

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John Doe, Seattle, Wash. — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:25:42 GMT

Steve Arnold had a contract with the landowner, Allen Binford, before starting his search for rocks on the land that yielded the extremely large meteorite which on auction this month.

Perhaps you could show Alan Boyle here your contract with 'the LANDOWNER' in Aldeia de Palheiros?

Perhaps you could demonstrate that you had a agreement with him to purchase all the material removed from his land by the locals (whom should also have shown you their legal title to the materials, having gained permission of the landowner to enter his land and remove those said materials) during the previous four months?

I don't have it in for you Michael. I am attempting to show a long line of obvious discrepancies and failures in what should be a formal process for the acquisition of valuable minerals from foreign territories, (nextdoor neighbours, or foreign countries). The fact that you are a 'headliner' with your Indiana Jones methodology and open bragging about exploitation of weaker cultures, makes you an obvious target for airchair commentators (such as myself) and lesser gung-ho rockhounds, (who you lovingly call 'sad people who cry about the deeds of other who are successful').

My anonimity is an obvious requirement of dealing with you Michael. I don't know exactly what has gone on between you and this Randall Gregory character, (competing rockhound?) but your exchanges with him are less than civilised.

For the time being, I choose to use the credentials 'suggested' by Cosmic Log, and provide a link from those credentials to interesting supporting materials on the web, such as your existing collection of Ourique that you still have for sale.

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Michael Farmer — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 01:37:12 GMT

so are you saying that every meteorite sold must have a valid contract with the landowner? Man, you are gonna be busy trashing every meteorite out there. How about Cali, did you see my contracts with those homeowners and the meteorites I bought from them? Of course not, I hand them the money, they hand me the rock, business transaction completed. Steve Arnold made contracts because he digs for YEARS on their land, and he wants to be the only one allowed. Not a useful thing for buying in other countries.

You clearly have no clue about what I do.

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John Smith — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:30:06 GMT

HOAX!

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John Doe, Seattle, Wash. — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:26:40 GMT

Everybody here knows what you do, Mr. Farmer.

My hope is that the word will pass as far as the authorities of your country and they will think twice about permitting you to travel beyond their international border. Perhaps your travel visas will be issued much slower in future. If you reach the site of future rock falls, perhaps the local police will be quicker to detain you at their pleasure than they will be to accept your generous charity, just long enough to verify your stated reason for visit is 'Business' and not just 'Pleasure' or 'Tourism'.

Perhaps the local children will not accept plastic pens in exchange for meteorite fragments. Enough to live for a year? Depends how you live. 300 grams, $8.00 USD per gram, 100% profit ... you must have paid her $1,200! Or am I dreaming? That is a lot of money. Hope you have a receipt. You know, for the Import Taxes, IRS and all.

Readers who are wondering what I am talking about, please click the link at the bottom of this article to go to Mr. Farmer's journal.

Alan, there is enough information here to start a thorough examination of the international meteorite collection activity.

The right people are not reading the comments here, (or at least not making comments here), but they might pay interest in a new article that exposes the exploitative methods employed by the non-professional 'rock hounds'.

[...]

Further ... anything that has been taken out of the ground and travels into an American (air)port is subject to inspection, quaranteen and analysis before being released, I believe. How does a rock hound returning to the States get past this potentially lengthy process? As far as I know, many airports will not let any biological materials pass through Customs. The rocks that (always) encounter local biological materials are very improbably sufficiently cleaned after 'capture' before shipping to the states.

This is not discussing biological materials from space, but mere biological materials, (soil, vegetation, bacteria, microbes, insects, etc), from the location of the impact. Not to mention potentially hazardous local minerals, such as arsenic.

Does any qualified person have a comment about these risks and the existing regulations?

I hope so.

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jane doe — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 09:31:24 GMT

John doe,
I wonder what you do for a living. You do know as an American we have free enterprise? As far as I can tell Mr Farmer has done nothing illegal. buy low, sell higher and He has benefited the scientific community in the process. He also has paid locals more than they get for growing our food and stitching up our clothes, while the Americans who profit from that, travel between their multi million dollar homes.
Many things would have been lost to the world if not for the risk taking "tomb raiders" of every nationality, whose past exploits fill our musuems and give us a better understanding of history, culture and science. If you must crusade for third world interests, what about, all those children and adults working long hours for pennies for many of the products every American has in there home. If you live in America, its inevitable that you by products that the producers were not adequately compensated for. Unless maybe you live in a yurt and weave your own cloth for clothing. Crusade for higher wages for them. Then they can afford education and to care about the signifcance of a huge "rock" falling from space. You must first build up an empire before you establish museums.(maslows law, not mine,) But for now we are the melting pot of the world. I see nothing wrong with being the rescuers and caretakers of some of its scientific and cultural objects. I do respect the law, but, Mr Farmer doesn't seem to have broken the law.
If you care so deeply for the people of Peru (and that is noble) crusade for better wages and better goverment for them ( any body who has spent much time in poor third world countries knows about police corruption.) Then they wouldn't have to depend on the chance of a meteorite falling in their backyard to afford a few little extras.
Like all loud mouths spouting off I choose anonymity also.

Sparks fly over meteorite

Fr. Phil Bloom, Seattle, WA — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:51:30 GMT

Fascinating. Does anyone know what the next steps will be for the scientific study of this meteorite?

Sparks fly over meteorite

Randall Gregory — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:49:12 GMT

What I am pursuing is trying to determine if a main mass exists is, in fact, buried under the crater and what size it might be using a mathematical model developed by a Scientist specializing in crater dynamics. Current estimates suggest that a meteorite of approx. 1 meter in diameter exists.

Sparks fly over meteorite

Randall Gregory — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:57:55 GMT

For the latest updates and additional information on this fantastic and incredible story, please go to:

http://www.livinginperu.com/news/4840

Sparks fly over meteorite

CUZCO . PERU — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:10:02 GMT

Do you all know what worries me the most, that no one realise that freeking fireball, piece of meteore , space dust or what ever you want to call it, shouldn't be hitting any where in my magnificent country.
All this situation it is only USA gov foul's, and their selfish, facist , imperialist and totalitarist system.
Why the hell didn't Nasa and Bush wait for the damm meteor was over the atlantic ocean, or even better over US soil to strike it out. No of course not, the stupid scientist are so retarders and dumds that they weren't even sure what to expect after their stupidity
, but "Just in case and to be in the safe side,lets do it far away south".And if they scrwed up and some dangerous and destructive fireball fouls, they can always send some willing retarders who are used to buy peoples moral and souls with some devaluated and worth less dollars.
NO for those stupid idiots who talks about ignorancy and corruption; some of my people are like that and behave like that because of POBERTY AND HUNGRY. a situation that countries like mine have to go trouth, thank to a group of rats who controls their world wide monopoly thank to their nuclear power.
I dont know who is worse, and deserve the death penalty first, Bush or B.Laden. they both are criminals, just that Laden does it for a wrong religious faith, the other sucker does it as sport and for fun. DONT YOU ALL REALIZE THAT HE KILLS HIS OWN PEOPLE. I should say some others are the ignorants here, because we might be INDIANS(best raze on earth thank you very much) but we can sees , analize and figured out how things really are. 911, SET 11 2001,
TWEEN TOWERS, PENTAGONE was planed and executed by him and CIA. Just like it happened on 2nd world war in Hawaii and the SUB "the Dolphine". And if they do it to you USA people, imaging how much they caress about South Americans.
And yes , listen you blind asses. the world is not just about Beisball, basketball, Malles, BBq and Disneyland. For that idiot who said Peru all most doesnt exist, please dont show you stupidity and ignorancy. WE SO EXIST , IN FACT WE ARE THE ORIGINAL A,D REAL AMERICANS We all are Americans, but in any case we are South Americans, and you are North Americans. Just that we own the original American title , and gained with our many many many years,
twosands of year of history living and working this preious bless land that GOD GAVE US, so he blessed us first. OK,
I FINISH BITCHING ABOUT YOU ALL BUNCH OF DUMD BUDS.
AND I HOPE THE FIT BACKS AND REPLIES, WONT HAVE A COMMENT SAYING SOME STUPIDITY ABOUT MY BAD ENGLISH.
because a least i can speak 4 languages, so he/she better speak more that 2 or 3 languages.

And i am stopping because i got enought with all this stupidity. next time blow meteors over LA, NY, FL, and leave us alone.

Sparks fly over meteorite

Sebastian, Buenos Aires, Argentina — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:03:26 GMT

All "John Doe" has said is full of common sense, he is the only person that I feel has expressed a legitimate and unbiased point of view.
It doesn't matter what the people in Peru are like. It doesn't matter all the good Farmer has done to the world "rescuing" those pieces of meteor. There are laws and there is respect and you don't seem to care at all about those things. There is no justification to steel meteor rocks from other country. And it is obvious that if you're stil free and shouting it out loud is because you're not alone on this and a lot of people that should care about laws look the other way (probably looking some green gifts).
If you are now putting demands on Latin American newspapers you will probably be too busy.

Thanks "John Doe" for bringing some common sense here.