[meteorite-list] another note from India

From: Roman Nakonechny <uraninut239__at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:28:26 2004
Message-ID: <Law9-F119iXq7qEH2pe0000a9a8_at_hotmail.com>

Yo! Mike,
            Loose Lips Sink Ships, man. You never know if a cobra is looking
over your shoulder . Be careful, and delete any messages sent, for Christ's
sake. Your stories are truly worthy of being written into a "meteorite
hunter" true adventure book. But you have to come back from the malaria-
bug infested swamps and rice paddies to write the story. I'm reading your
emails here in eastern U.S.A. at 3:00AM - EST ( bet that's starting to
sound real good "bout" now, ey Mike? )- U.S.A. that is. Anyway buddy ,
chew -up this Email and swallow it (delete) and have a safe trip home. God
Bless. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* VIVA ALLENDE . Roman N.
(PS) Any guesses as to the composition of this meteorite, Mike? . I'm sorry
if you already stated what it resembles, I've been away and there's like 350
Emails accumulated from the list and I have'nt read them all. Guess not, ey.
  {:-)>
>From: Michael Farmer <meteoriteguy_at_yahoo.com>
>To: meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
>Subject: [meteorite-list] another note from India
>Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 22:30:34 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Another day has dawned, finally sunny, no rain in
>sight thank god. Over 5 million people are severely
>affected by the floods according to todays newspaper.
>After yesterdays tragedy, i really dont feel like
>leaving the hotel for any sort of longjourney today, i
>will go to a Tiger preserve today for some more
>tourism.
>I am still waiting on a call for a piece today, but
>will leave here early tomorrow, regardless of whether
>it comes or not.
>There have been some questions posed as to exactly how
>much meteorite there is. Even here noone has any idea.
>There was one 5.7 kilogram stone, that I held, then i
>know of another which landed nearby and was smashed up
>into many fragments, it should also have been 5 or 6
>kilos.
>Then another piece that hit the hut, the one where my
>already controversial fragment came from, that stone
>weighed 5-8 kilos, and was also smashed by the
>natives. It has dissapered, some fragments to
>different people, the largest piece taken by a
>policeman who has not been found yet. they are trying,
>i have gotten calls every few hours, so they are
>trying. I offered a nice price for it.
>There seem to be alreay some rumors coming out through
>Atul's contacts. I have made no firm offer on anyhting
>other than a large price should they acquire me a
>large piece. No 70,000 rupees offered for anything, as
>I have seen nothing to buy. The stones in the custody
>of the revenue minister in Kendrapara are of course
>off limits as the local and federal government are
>already fighting over them.
>So I do not know the total weight or even how many
>stones were found, but to the best figuring it is only
>3 known to exist. Unfortunately it was sunset when I
>had to divert from car to motorcycle the other nice to
>get to the village where the hut smasher fell, and
>since it was flooded, and almost dark, I left my
>camera in the car. So I did not get a photo of the
>crater and damage to the hut, and it is impossible, to
>far to go back to that village.
>According to the people, virtually millions saw the
>fall, the firball exploded and broke into many pieces,
>many explosions, boom boom boom boom boom, like that
>they said, it is clear that the meteorite broek up
>very high and into many pieces, it was so large I
>assume that likely hundreds of stones fell. The
>village where the hut smasher fell, the people
>described the fire in the sky that made all of the
>women and children scream in terror, lasted a few
>seconds, then came the booming sounds, then one or two
>minutes later, screaming sounds like they had never
>heard, then the people still outside saw the dirt
>flying and the stone bounce accross the village
>square. They said they heard several such sounds, but
>since it was already dark, they do not know where the
>others landed, and the village like all others, is
>very tiny, just one small trail in between the rows of
>huts. It is on a raised little island, surrounded by
>swamps and rice paddies. It is clear that many more
>stones fell nearby, but now sit 3 feet under water in
>the mud, never to be found. that is the only stone
>that landed on the raised village.
>As far as the homes that burned, it has nothing to do
>with the meteorite as far as i can tell, they were in
>villages that saw the fireball, and i think they just
>associated the disaster with the firball.
>One neat bit of local lore, the Hindus here believe in
>many gods, one of which is names Indra, the god of
>lightning, a bad god who likes to kill people by
>throwing lightning and killing people and cows
>(apparently hundreds are killed here by lightning, no
>wonder due to the everyday thunderstorms and everyone
>working in the rice paddies). they all thought that
>this was a terrible punishment from Indra, who through
>burning stones at the people. they also all asked me
>how to protect themselves from the lightning, of
>course I have no answer, only get out of the rain when
>it comes.
>The people look at me like some kind of strange being,
>most in the small villages (women and children) have
>never left their village, the men do to go work
>elswhere. So most of them have never seen a white
>person! I am also much larger than the small people
>here, so they are fascinated with that.
>When I was at the temple yesterday, I had several rich
>Indian women come up to me and ask to take photos with
>me, why I have no idea.
>
>
>On another note, I am still fuming about what Keven
>wrote, I hope is not being put up to it by some
>envious competetors. That is the lowest of the low, if
>you have something to say to me, say it! Perhaps I am
>operating here not quite in line with the law, I
>really hav eno idea, but I do not claim to be the most
>law abiding person on the planet, I have been known to
>drive faster than the posted limit, thus breaking the
>law, no different that taking a stone from that I have
>paid for out of the country without filling out a
>thousand request papers and needing years to do it. If
>that is a problem with someone like Kevin's lofty
>sence of morality (Laughing my ass off), so be it.
>Don't buy from me. But known this, next time you drive
>a little too fast, you are as much a horrible criminal
>as myself. I have gone to the local government, and
>Tuesday, will spend the day at the National Museum In
>Calcutta, viewing the meteorite collection there. I
>hope to get photos of so many rare Indian meteorites
>that none of us have even seen!
>
>
>
>
>
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Received on Sun 12 Oct 2003 03:38:46 AM PDT