[meteorite-list] CARANCAS STORY, nothing but the facts, in order and to set story strait

From: Michael Farmer <meteoriteguy_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 00:17:44 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <24105.69543.qm_at_web33101.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

List members, I am home after 22 hours of travel
today, thank god.


I am exhausted, no sleep for at least 3 days, imagine
how I do not want to write this tonight, but must get
my side out there.


I am going to give you all the exact truth about this
debacle, take it as you will.


Moritz Karl, Robert Ward and myself traveled to Peru
and arrived at the crater on Saturday. We arrived in
Desaguadero and immediately went to the border police
(you walk across a bridge from Bolivia so the police
stand there on the bridge). I am FLUENT IN SPANISH, so
I spoke with the police about the meteorite. Within
seconds I had bought pieces from them, as they all had
pieces of the meteorite in their pockets.
They agreed to take us to the crater, and the called
Major Anaya to confirm, he suggested armed guards
since the locals do not like the police and we went in
TWO police trucks to the crater.

When we arrived, there was a kid there from Puno
university doing some study with an antenna and
laptop. The crater was closed off by the locals. I
spoke with them, told them who I was and that we were
here to see the meteorite crater and to buy pieces.
Within minutes we were allowed into the crater, and
the university kid begged me to get him in too, the
locals had refused him entry. This is the same kid who
wrote in the Peru newspaper yesterday that I had him
barred from the crater and interfered with his studied
by telling the locals to banish him! I got him in to
the crater, and what did he do, lie to the newspaper!

We bought many pieces over the next few hours, and the
police left us at the crater, the landowner Javier,
told us he would drive us back to town later. He was
extremely nice, and we bought pieces of meteorite from
him and paid him well each day to be our guide.
We found pieces ourselves and spoke with all of the
locals. I impressed the local elders and was informed
that they would call a town meeting later, and we were
to be invited to speak about meteorites and give
advice on what to do.
We attended the town assembly and I was asked to
address the villagers and explain to them about
meteorites, the importance of this meteorite, and what
to do about it. I told them that the meteorite was
harmless (the government scientists and police all
told the locals that it was dangerous and could poison
them and their animals while they took all of the
larger pieces). I told them that the crater would be
destroyed upon the first rains, and that the main mass
of the meteorite was underground. the scientists had
told them that the meteorite vaporized into the poison
steam and there was nothing in the hole. I told them
that for their town, and for science, the meteorite
must be dug up as soon as possible, to preserve it
from rotting in the water, and every day in the water
was destroying the meteorite. They thought that
tourists would come to pay to see the crater, I told
them the tourists would more likely come to see the
meteorite, not a mud-pit. I told them that their
village was in the news all over the world, and that
by digging up and protecting the meteorite, they would
have even more fame, instead of regret if they let the
meteorite rot in the mud. The entire town cheered me,
and voted at that time to dig out the meteorite and do
it carefully, preserving the crater as best they could
but saving the meteorite first, since that is the
important part.

Sunday was uneventful, we spent the day taking video
and finding pieces of the meteorite as well as buying
pieces form the locals, who it seemed were all
dragging speaker magnets around the area and were
picking up small fragments.

On Monday ,the entire town came to dig out the
meteorite, the mayor of Desaguadero addressed the
crowd, brought the pump, and after hours of prayers
and ceremonies, began pumping out the water. After
about two hours, the crater was nearly dry, then the
mayor called an end to work and said that we would
continue on Tuesday. We were frustrated at the 1 pm
end of day and protested that the crater would just
fill with water again, to no avail.

Later that afternoon, we went to town and were caught
by the police, Major Anaya, and interrogated in the
police headquarters. There was a man from Puno who had
arrived and asked us questions for about an hour or
so. He seemed quite nice, wanted my advice on the
meteorite, and I told him the same thing, that the
meteorite must be saved at all cost and speed. He
wanted me to speak to a group who would arrive on-site
the next day. He said he heard we were there and came
to stop the digging up of the meteorite. I told him I
wanted to buy pieces, which I already had done, and in
the interest of science, to have the meteorite dug up.


The police were nice enough, but took our passports
and information down and faxed Lima. Then they
demanded that we show them where our hotel was.
Needless to say, things got dicey from then on. We
were a little freaked out, but not worried. Later that
evening we had dinner and walked to the border to find
out what time it would close, as we wanted to get back
to Bolivia since the activity was bothersome. We did
not have time to pack our bags and make it back before
the crossing closed for the night, so as we turned
back to go to the hotel, we were intercepted by the
Major and two other policemen in plainclothes. They
asked if we were trying to leave, and we said no, just
checking the border hours. The Major hinted at big
problems for us, and he went into the bar leaving the
other two cops to deal with us, who told me to meet
them in 30 minutes at my hotel. They told me that we
were in trouble but that they would take us across the
border and demanded a payment of $500.00 each. I
bullshitted my way around for an hour, then paid them
$100.00 each. They told me to get across the border in
the morning, and said that they would email me and
sell me pieces of meteorite through the Internet. I
pretended to be happy for their help.

At 5 am on Tuesday, I was awakened by the same two
policemen demanding $500.00 more each or we would be
arrested. They said that I had been denounced in Lima
and that national police were coming to arrest us. I
refused to pay and they said they would see me at the
border and to keep track of my money in a very
threatening way.
I got Robert and Moritz up, and we packed our bags and
went to the border, the police were waiting on us. The
border did not open for one hour, so we hailed a taxi
and threw our bags in, and went 50 miles away to
another border crossing into Bolivia. We had no
problems crossing there.

Later in the day on Tuesday, when we arrived in La
Paz, I checked me email, and lo and behold, I had
emails from the US Embassy in Lima, saying that they
heard I had been arrested and were offering assistance
and advice. I also had the threatening emails from Mr
Gregory, or whatever he calls himself today. He
admitted to working with the cops to have us arrested,
as you all saw in your emails.

This is the end of the story, we did nothing other
than tell the locals that they should dig up their
meteorite to save it, and since the locals have a lot
of autonomy, they voted to do just that.
It seems that the federal government did not like that
idea (not my problem, that is between them and the
locals, I only told them the truth, that the meteorite
was being lost and destroyed forever sitting in sewage
water). I had no plans to buy or steal the meteorite
(how the hell would I move something that weighs
tons)?
I have the town meeting on video, where I told them to
save the meteorite and build a museum to house it,
that would bring in tourist, not a mud-hole.


The police and Mr Gregory are mad that the locals
decided to take action on their own, and cut them out
of the large amount of money that the meteorite is
worth. You can clearly see that in his emails, now
angry they the site is guarded. He said in en earlier
email that he planned to dig it up himself, it seems
that has now been made impossible, so he and his Major
drinking buddy can't get rich.

The press in Peru, Randall Gregory, and the corrupt
police in Desaguadero have turned this into an
international incident. I have a telephone conference
scheduled for 9 am tomorrow with members of the Lima
US Embassy to denounce the police, and Mr Gregory. I
have already forwarded his threats to them, and expect
action will be taken. He has colluded to the police to
harass, extort, and arrest me for doing nothing more
than visiting the crater, and dispensing advice.
Buying the meteorite pieces is not illegal in Peru,
and the same cops sold us pieces, and also sold Mr
Gregory his 4 kilo piece, as he admitted to the list
only days ago.
It seems that he can't keep his lies, stories, and
motives strait.

I do not take kindly to threats of harm, arrest, and
being robbed of money by corrupt police. The embassy
has assured me that this is a national news story, and
by making an official report tomorrow, action will be
taken. I hope Mr Gregory, and the piece of crap cops
in Desaguadero get what is coming to them.

This is a short and to the point version, but not much
is left out I don't think.

Michael Farmer
Received on Thu 04 Oct 2007 03:17:44 AM PDT