[meteorite-list] Fredericksburg meteorite and politics of science

From: Jason Utas <meteoritekid_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:20:12 -0700
Message-ID: <93aaac890703192220k668cf423y8e05b6062726bd9b_at_mail.gmail.com>

Ahh, well, I guess it wasn't to be....off list that is.
I'll start by letting Mike have a good look at the quote he just put down.
Note "approved meteorite."
You suggest that I said that it wasn't a meteorite. I, as you can
clearly see, stated that it was merely not approved. Read it if you
don't believe me...

I responded to every issue brought up in your third paragraph
privately. Read it.
As you can see, I pretty much agree with you....way to wait for a
response before posting again.

The issues in the fourth paragraph I addressed as well - privately, a
good few minutes ago.

Furthermore, it seems clear to me now that it was merely not submitted
because it was a paired piece of Richland. If it's not a new
meteorite, it shouldn't get a new name; we all know that.

Please don't do this again next time I respond privately to you.
After I clearly did not publicly post my initial off-list response to
the list, there was no reason for you to respond to everyone.

Annoyed,
Jason



On 3/19/07, Michael Farmer <meteoriteguy at yahoo.com> wrote:
> List members.
> I must express my disappointment with Jason for
> quipping that the fact that the Fredericksburg
> meteorite has not been classified, thus is not a
> meteorite. Jason, here are you exact words "It would
> be something like calling
> Fredericksburg (remember that Hexahedrite from a few
> years ago?) an approved meteorite - it's never been
> mentioned in the bulletin or elsewhere, so how can
> you?"
>
> Jason, you know it is a meteorite, and you know why it
> has not been approved. Politics and personal grudge
> has turned science into a farce. John Wasson at UCLA
> (the top iron meteorite scientist in the world"
> refuses to submit it since I bought it. He classified
> it, confirmed with the owner that it was a Hexahedrite
> that was not paired to any other known meteorite, and
> tried to buy it. He did not try very hard, as he had
> several years head-start on me. The owner sent many
> faxes and emails to Dr. Wasson, who did not respond
> for more than one year. Tired of waiting, the owner
> found me on eBay, called me, and we made a price. I
> was in Alaska only days later, cash in hand and saw
> the copies of emails. He told me he needed money and
> could no longer wait on UCLA, which did not return his
> emails/faxes and phone calls. The emails I saw were
> very clear, asking Dr. Wasson to get in touch with him
> and finalize a price and purchase agreement. Those
> phone calls, faxes, and emails all went unanswered for
> nearly a year.
>
> Only days after announcing that I had bought the
> meteorite, I received a rather terse and abrupt email
> from Dr. Wasson, angry that I had bought "his
> meteorite" and he demanded a large piece for UCLA
> since they had done the work on the meteorite. I sent
> them an end cut weighing more than 500 grams (Perhaps
> as much as 800 grams, I can't remember because that
> was more than seven years ago). I never heard one more
> word from Dr. Wasson, not a "thank you" or anything. I
> emailed him numerous times requesting the
> classification data, with no response. I heard through
> other scientists that he was quite angry with me for
> buying what he felt was his meteorite.
> It has now been more than seven years since I bought
> Fredericksburg, I don't even remember the exact year,
> but in that time, it has all been sold off.
>
> Did I leave anything out? Do you know more about this?
> Can I ask what you are calling me on? If UCLA could
> not make a decision or raise the funds years after
> knowing about this meteorite, then I think the loss
> was due to their own lack of interest and
> follow-through and ignoring the repeated requests of
> the man trying to sell them the meteorite. The owner
> needed money, and years
> after asking UCLA for it, decided to sell to myself.
> So actually, more than seven years after I bought the
> meteorite, and provided more than 500 grams to UCLA,
> Dr Wasson refuses to finish the job he started years
> before I ever heard of the meteorite. I guess politics
> triumphs over science in this case.
> Pieces of the Fredericksburg meteorite are in
> collections and museums around the world. Mr Wasson
> has the data, so perhaps people who have bought this
> meteorite should start emailing Dr. Wasson, and ask
> him why he will not submit it a decade after doing the
> classification. My emails to him have gone unanswered,
> so I have to assume that any further attempts by me to
> get the data will meet the same fate.
> Michael Farmer
>
>
> This is a simple and complete history of the
> Fredericksburg meteorite from Texas.
>
>
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Received on Tue 20 Mar 2007 01:20:12 AM PDT