[meteorite-list] Meteorite Finding Dog in West Texas

From: Jeff Kuyken <info_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:15:36 +1100
Message-ID: <18FE7FCFB86747EE88AC042A1CAA8415_at_JeffPC>

To Rob? I think that's a pretty fitting home for the West Dog Meteortite to
go live with the Nakhla Dog! ;-)

Cheers,

Jeff


----- Original Message -----
From: "Ruben Garcia" <meteoritemall at yahoo.com>
To: "Frank Cressy" <fcressy at prodigy.net>;
<Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>; "Walter Branch"
<waltbranch at bellsouth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 12:15 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite Finding Dog in West Texas


> Hi all.
> I'm heading home in the morning with a bag full of meteorites. Ok, it's a
> small bag but I'm happy. I got 6 complete individuals and a fractured
> specimen. I interviewed some of the locals as well as hunters and should
> have at least a couple of good stories/videos!
>
> I'm not sure (nor is anyone else) why the dog decided to pick up the
> meteorite. However, the owners gladly wrote out a nice little story about
> how it happened and for everyone dying to know, the meteorite found by the
> dog was purchased by my friend Rob Wessel.
>
>
>
> Ruben Garcia
> Phoenix, Arizona
> Website: http://www.Mr-Meteorite.Net
> Articles: http://www.meteorite.com/blog/
> Videos: http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=meteorfright&p=v
>
>
> --- On Sat, 2/21/09, Walter Branch <waltbranch at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
>> From: Walter Branch <waltbranch at bellsouth.net>
>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite Finding Dog in West Texas
>> To: "Frank Cressy" <fcressy at prodigy.net>,
>> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>> Date: Saturday, February 21, 2009, 5:53 PM
>> Hi Frank,
>>
>> Funny story. Thanks for sharing.
>>
>> BTW, I just re-read your article on in Meteorite on
>> Braunau. Interesting detective work.
>>
>> -Walter
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Frank Cressy"
>> <fcressy at prodigy.net>
>> To: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>;
>> <mexicodoug at aim.com>; <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>;
>> <ensoramanda at ntlworld.com>;
>> <meteoritemall at yahoo.com>
>> Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 8:42 PM
>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite Finding Dog in West
>> Texas
>>
>>
>> > Hi Rubin and all,
>> >
>> > One hundred and fifty years ago, a stone fell in
>> Bethlehem, New York on August 11 that also involved a
>> meteorite finding dog, apparently not as well trained as the
>> West, Texas dog. C.U. Shepard wrote:
>> >
>> > ?Mr. Vanderpool was at work near his house, and
>> heard the explosion in common with other members of his
>> family. About two minutes after, as it appeared to him, a
>> stone, coming in an oblique course, struck the side
>> > of a wagon house, glanced off, hit a log upon the
>> ground, bounded again, and rolled into the grass. A dog
>> lying in the doorway of the wagon house sprang up, darted
>> out and seized it, but dropped it immediately, probably on
>> account of its warmth and sulphurous small.?
>> >
>> > And of course there's the story about the dog that
>> found the Lost City meteorite in January, 1970. Must have
>> been too heavy to carry so he just "marked it",
>> probably so he could find it again. ;-)
>> >
>> > Cheers,
>> >
>> > Frank
>> >
>> >
>> > --- On Sat, 2/21/09, Ruben Garcia
>> <meteoritemall at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > From: Ruben Garcia <meteoritemall at yahoo.com>
>> > Subject: [meteorite-list] Meteorite Finding Dog in
>> West Texas
>> > To: Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com,
>> mexicodoug at aim.com, meteorobs at meteorobs.org,
>> ensoramanda at ntlworld.com
>> > Date: Saturday, February 21, 2009, 5:08 PM
>> >
>> > There is indeed a meteorite finding dog!
>> >
>> > Here's the story. On Friday Sonny, Steve Arnold
>> and I drove into the strewn
>> > field bright and early and immediately started
>> knocking on doors to try to gain
>> > permission to hunt. Upon walking up to a particular
>> house Sonny spotted a
>> > meteorite on the porch (about 70-90 grams) he picked
>> it up, and laid it back
>> > down. "Ruben, did you see that fully crusted
>> meteorite on the porch?"
>> > He Said. I couldn't believe it. He was right!
>> Right there on the porch but
>> > no one was home...what to do? Since Sonny assured me
>> that he wasn't going to
>> > buy meteorites when he could find them I decided to
>> track down the owner and try
>> > to buy the specimen.
>> >
>> > I got the owners work phone number from a neighbor and
>> called. After
>> > introducing myself and explaining what I was in town
>> for, I told the owner that
>> > there was a meteorite on their porch. "What, you
>> mean that black rock that
>> > the dog brought up and dropped on the porch?"
>> "Yes, that one" I
>> > said.
>> >
>> > Needless to say, I drove down and did a nice video
>> interview with the owner
>> > holding the space rock and recalling the tale.
>> >
>> >
>> > Ruben Garcia
>> > Phoenix, Arizona
>> > Website: http://www.Mr-Meteorite.Net
>> > Articles: http://www.meteorite.com/blog/
>> > Videos:
>> http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=meteorfright&p=v
>> >
>> >
>> > --- On Sat, 2/21/09, ensoramanda at ntlworld.com
>> <ensoramanda at ntlworld.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> >> From: ensoramanda at ntlworld.com
>> <ensoramanda at ntlworld.com>
>> >> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] West, Texas
>> meteorite finds
>> >> To: Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com,
>> mexicodoug at aim.com,
>> > meteorobs at meteorobs.org
>> >> Date: Saturday, February 21, 2009, 4:18 AM
>> >> Quick...make an offer for the dog!
>> >>
>> >> Thanks for the interesting update/report.
>> >>
>> >> Graham Ensor UK
>> >>
>> >> ---- mexicodoug at aim.com wrote:
>> >> > Hello from Sunny Texas, under clear and
>> starry-eyed
>> >> skies at the moment,
>> >> >
>> >> > A few stones were found right at the time of
>> the fall,
>> >> however, they
>> >> > were not definitively identified as
>> meteorites -
>> >> though that was the
>> >> > suspicion and they were saved.
>> >> >
>> >> > We (Doug Dawn, Dmitry Sadilenko, Sergey
>> Petukov) drove
>> >> across the
>> >> > country and estimated the location of the
>> strewn field
>> >> within 48 hours
>> >> > of the event. With a bit of tenacity,
>> scarcely four
>> >> hours after the
>> >> > second day, thanks to the help of some
>> Texas-sized
>> >> hospitality, we
>> >> > arrived in the strewn field and found our
>> first couple
>> >> of stones and I
>> >> > had the distinct pleasure of shaking the
>> finders hand
>> >> and removing any
>> >> > lingering doubts in his mind that he had
>> meteorites
>> >> fresh from Heaven's
>> >> > farm.
>> >> >
>> >> > After the initial success, my good friend and
>> >> asteroidhunter, Rob
>> >> > Matson of Los Angeles, joined up with the
>> team. We
>> >> have found some
>> >> > stones, but more are being found by others,
>> and we
>> >> really expect larger
>> >> > masses to be found, though hard work in the
>> field
>> >> definitely gets you
>> >> > wondering if just because such a meteoritical
>> >> spectacle drops one
>> >> > stone, should it drop the thousands we keep
>> expecting
>> >> to see? The TKW
>> >> > is rapidly evolving, but the area is being
>> hit quite
>> >> hard by hunters
>> >> > already. This doesn't seem to be a dense
>> fall, and
>> >> some areas are very
>> >> > easy to search, though bramble in other areas
>> >> effectively keeps those
>> >> > off limits. All land is private and most
>> families keep
>> >> their gun
>> >> > collections well oiled. In our case, the
>> big-hearts of
>> >> the landowners
>> >> > have humbled easily as much as the witness
>> reports of
>> >> the bolide's
>> >> > fragmenting itself. This is at odds with some
>> other
>> >> reports, only
>> >> > because residents of the area treasure their
>> privacy
>> >> and were
>> >> > completely overwhelmed by the wave of
>> treasure hunters
>> >> that descended.
>> >> > We almost lost our permission to hunt when
>> they
>> >> believed that we were
>> >> > somehow responsible for several meteorite
>> hunters
>> >> showing up with a
>> >> > news crews. Besides being quite busy, I
>> promised to
>> >> respect the
>> >> > anonymity of our hosts as a condition of our
>> search,
>> >> and this evening
>> >> > we reaped the benefits of a delicious
>> home-cooked
>> >> dinner prepared by
>> >> > the caring hands of our hosts at their dinner
>> table.
>> >> There is a great
>> >> > Texas steakhouse on I-35 which adds to the
>> flavor for
>> >> anyone wanting to
>> >> > experience Texas culture, cowboys and pretty
>> cowgirls
>> >> from West, TX.
>> >> >
>> >> > It has been an incredible last few days,
>> which started
>> >> by being the
>> >> > first to walk in a virgin strewn field,
>> though my
>> >> mother had some
>> >> > problems (she seems better now) that have
>> somewhat
>> >> muted what will
>> >> > undoubtedly be some of the most memorable
>> moments of
>> >> my life. It is way
>> >> > past bedtime and I will post more tomorrow.
>> The
>> >> meteorite itself is
>> >> > moderately to highly shocked and has a very
>> bright,
>> >> light, interior and
>> >> > veins of troilite and nodules of metal, and
>> the
>> >> majority of stones
>> >> > found are fully fusion crusted. More on the
>> >> classification on Saturday.
>> >> > We certainly were not in a mass-laden portion
>> of the
>> >> strewn field,
>> >> > other hunters please take note; more likely
>> just a
>> >> place where a minor
>> >> > fragmentation impacted. In any case, we are
>> committed
>> >> to getting the
>> >> > science done so everyone else can rest
>> assured that we
>> >> have already
>> >> > gladly provided the mass requirements
>> necessary for
>> >> this honor.
>> >> >
>> >> > All in all, a very humbling experience for
>> many
>> >> reasons. To pick up a
>> >> > piece of a falling star and I thought, detect
>> a faint
>> >> sulfurous odor.
>> >> > It seems a dog even caught the scent of a
>> meteorite
>> >> and laid it down on
>> >> > the owners porch!
>> >> >
>> >> > Best wishes and clear skies
>> >> > Doug
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > -----Original Message-----
>> >> > From: Pat Branch <pat_branch at yahoo.com>
>> >> > To: drtanuki at yahoo.com; Global Meteor
>> Observing Forum
>> >> > <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
>> >> > Sent: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 9:28 am
>> >> > Subject: Re: (meteorobs) West, Texas
>> meteorite finds
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > The University of North Texas Astronomers
>> have found 4
>> >> so far. I saw a
>> >> > video clip of them. The biggest is about 3
>> times the
>> >> others...just
>> >> > about palm sized.
>> >> >
>> >> > I think that is 4 for Farmer and 4 for UNT. I
>> have not
>> >> heard of other
>> >> > teams finding anything.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > --- In meteorobs at yahoogroups.com, drtanuki
>> >> <drtanuki at ...> wrote:
>> >> > >
>> >> > > Dear List,
>> >> > > Here are the latest reports from the
>> West, Texas
>> >> fall.
>> >> > >
>> >> > >
>> http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com/
>> >> > >
>> >> > > Best Regards, Dirk Ross...Tokyo
>> >> > >
>> _______________________________________________
>> >> >
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>> >> >
>> >>
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>> >
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Received on Tue 24 Feb 2009 03:15:36 AM PST