[meteorite-list] Elma Field Report Part 1

From: Walter Branch <branchw_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:21:06 2004
Message-ID: <046201c34cd9$b6bd9d80$d8c59f44_at_b4b9e1>

Adam-

"Rattlesnake Eggs"

Are you serious?

-Walter



------------------------------------------
www.branchmeteorites.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Adam Hupe" <adamhupe_at_comcast.net>
To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2003 9:36 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Elma Field Report Part 1


> Elma Meteorite Field Update Part 1.
>
> We thought List members might be interested in a report from the field
> concerning the Elma incident.
>
> Greg and I arrived in Elma at 11:00 a.m. yesterday to find several dozen
> people searching for meteorites in the shot-put area next to the Elma High
> School running track. There was an unbelievable amount of news networks
> covering this story, at least four major networks. We were dispatched by
> the University of Washington to investigate the suspected meteorites and
to
> report our findings directly to them. Before we had a chance to look at
> what was being found we had to locate our contact Levi, of the Daily
World.
> Levi found us in the crowd and put us in touch directly with the three
young
> men who witnessed the fireball and presumably found some material.
>
> Picture of School:
> http://www.lunarrock.com/elma/schoolsign.jpg
>
> As soon as everybody saw us interviewing the teenagers several news teams
> with their cameras ran over to where we were and asked if we were the
> officials who were there to give the final word on the incident. We
> explained that we would be happy to offer an opinion on the material that
> was being found but we needed time to examine the hundreds of black
pebbles
> that were being recovered from the shot-put pit. As I looked around I saw
a
> familiar face in the crowd, a competitor. Thinking we may have been
scooped
> we asked what his opinion was. We were told he would not offer an
opinion.
> Knowing this competitor knows what a meteorite looks like we feared that
> what was being found was not meteoritic. This left it up to us to break
the
> bad news to the excited crowd.
>
> Shot Put Pit:
> http://www.lunarrock.com/elma/filmcrew.jpg
>
> We relocated to the bleachers and opened our kit to examine the stones
that
> were being found. We used a loop, a magnet and if needed some chemicals
to
> determine the hundreds of stones being pulled from the pit were
terrestrial.
> This is not what everybody wanted to hear and it put us in the awkward
> position of announcing to the crowd and news teams that everybody was on
the
> wrong track. We pulled out some real meteorites and showed them to the
> crowd so that they would have a better idea of what to look for. Knowing
> there was the possibility of disappointment we brought some NWA meteorites
> to donate to some of the crowd. That way sincere searchers were not left
> empty handed and the freebies were greatly appreciated. More importantly,
> it sparked an interest in meteoritics and the crowd responded by asking
> dozens of questions. After they examined real meteorites some of them
> dispersed to other parts of the town in search of the real thing. We told
> them if they found anything of interest we were going to the "Rusty
Tractor"
> for lunch, then to a quarry to hunt for some fossils and then onto the
> Bowling alley.
>
> The Rusty Tractor:
> http://www.lunarrock.com/elma/rustytractor.jpg
>
> We arrived at the "Rusty Tractor" to find a large contingent decided to
join
> us for lunch. The locals suggested rattlesnake eggs and tractor treads
for
> appetizers followed by the main course, a giant yak burger. The lunch was
> not half bad and we had some great conversations with the locals who told
us
> some interesting facts about Elma. The population of Elma is about 3,600
> and that the meteor was the biggest news to hit this little town since the
> great bank robbery of 1914 and the Tractor tragedy of 1929:
>
> The Great Bank Robbery of 1914
> The bank robbery of 1914 rocked the little town of Elma, Washington.
$4,280
> was lifted in the heist. The robbers overlooked another $7,500 in plain
> site on the cashiers desk, taken from the vault just minutes before.
Shots
> were fired, but nobody was injured. The gang was eventually apprehended
in
> Seattle.
>
> Tractor Tragedy of 1929
> One stormy day, in 1929, George Mouncer, of Elma, was out on his "rusty"
> tractor at the Oaksridge Golf Course when, suddenly, his tractor was
struck
> by lightning. George was thrown nearly 30 feet and was "out" for some
time.
> He had to be carried in by his cousin, Lee. Fortunately, George suffered
no
> ill effects from the strike, besides shock and a rather severe headache.
>
> Rusty Tractor Menu:
> http://www.lunarrock.com/elma/menu.jpg
>
> Later into the lunch John Cornish joined us. We were surprised to see
> another familiar face, which had not been seen by us since Tucson. We
> talked for some time about meteorites and decided it was time to go to the
> quarry and search for fossils while the rest of the town was looking for
> meteorites.
>
>
> To be continued see part two
>
>
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>
Received on Thu 17 Jul 2003 11:07:25 PM PDT