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Re: Misleading statements and the responsibility of Meteorite dealers.

Frank Stroik writes:
>	I am troubled by what I am reading in dealer catalogs, listings, 
>and webpages. I see a lot of inaccuracies, and half truths in 
>descriptions of meteorites. This is a touchy subject, but one that needs 
>to be addressed.


>	The Martian meteorite fiasco is still a bitter pill to be 
>swallowed by all collectors.ALH84001is not related to the true SNC's by 
>any way that would justify the outrageous prices asked by people. You 
>see, the main group SNC's are all crustal rocks, formed at some depth in 
>the Martian crust. 

I've alwarys considered this to be a demand and supply issue.
Everyone wanted a Mars meteorite after that NASA press conference last
August.  From my point of view, the dramatic price increase in the
SNC's was a double-edged sword.  Since I already had several SNC's in 
my collection, the value of my collection went up.  On the other hand, it 
became extremely difficult and expensive to obtain additional Mars meteorites.

>These never experienced water alteration, and their 
>formation temperature is too high to harbor life. ALH84001 is a surface 
>rock that experienced low temperature water alteration, that may have 
>been a catalyst to the presence of microscopic organisims. This 
>experience is unique, and never been experienced by Zagami, Shergotty, 
>Nahkla, and Chassigny. 

True, no one said that the possible life in ALH84001 also existed in
the other SNC's. However, some British researchers found possible evidence
of life in EETA 79001, a shergotite.  If there is life in EETA 79001, then
you can make a more definitive connection to the other shergotites such as 
Zagami and Shergotty.

>Where then do dealers feel they have the right to hike the prices up? F
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