[meteorite-list] Why isn't Mreira classified as a Fall?

From: Matt Morgan <mail_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 14:19:00 -0600
Message-ID: <ff368040-ad82-4275-b03c-38b1a3de9ae3_at_email.android.com>

I do have one of my pieces photographed in-situ but that wasn't enough. For NWA "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." That is the way it is.
Matt


On March 11, 2014 2:06:23 PM MDT, Carl Agee <agee at unm.edu> wrote:
>"....a fireball was seen in the afternoon sky on December 16, 2012,
>several school children saw the fireball explode and detonations were
>heard near the village of Mehaires, Western Sahara. Pieces were
>recovered approximately 40 miles south of Mehaires, near Mre?ra,
>Mauritania, only a few days after the event."
>
>
>This excerpt above is basically only "the proof" that it was a fall.
>The lesson here is that NWA documentation needs to be meticulous with
>identified individual eyewitnesses that corroborate with anything else
>like cameras etc. (e.g. Chelyabinsk). What didn't measure up in this
>case, was the anecdotal recovered fresh meteorites 40 miles from an
>event that only anonymous school children witnessed. Also, no
>documented strewn field was submitted (in situ photos etc.). I suppose
>this can be a problem when people want to keep the actual strewn field
>location a secret to keep out competing hunters?
>
>No such thing as too much documentation.
>
>
>Carl Agee
>*************************************
>Carl B. Agee
>Director and Curator, Institute of Meteoritics
>Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences
>MSC03 2050
>University of New Mexico
>Albuquerque NM 87131-1126
>
>Tel: (505) 750-7172
>Fax: (505) 277-3577
>Email: agee at unm.edu
>http://meteorite.unm.edu/people/carl_agee/
>
>
>
>On Tue, Mar 11, 2014 at 1:29 PM, Ruben Garcia
><rubengarcia85382 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> So what held them back from calling this a fall? What more
>information
>> did they need to swing the pendulum towards a fall as opposed to a
>> find?
>>
>> Maybe Dr Agee, Dr Garvie or someone else involved in this
>> classification can shed some light.
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 11, 2014 at 11:05 AM, Matt Morgan <mail at mhmeteorites.com>
>wrote:
>>>
>>> Mreira was submitted by me as a fall but the NomCom couldn't reach a
>consensus. So it was likely witnessed as stated in the description. As
>you noted Ruben it is as fresh as can be....
>>> Matt Morgan
>>>
>>> On March 11, 2014 11:00:59 AM MDT, Ruben Garcia
><rubengarcia85382 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>Hi,
>>>>
>>>>When I purchased Mreira months ago I was told by the Moroccan
>dealers
>>>>that it was a witnessed fall. Ok, lets be real, anyone can say
>>>>anything in order to make a sale. However, it looks as fresh as any
>>>>fall I've ever seen/found.
>>>>
>>>>Photos here:
>>>>http://www.mrmeteorite.com/mreirameteorite.htm
>>>>
>>>>Read the write up - it seems to agree that it is indeed a fall.
>>>>
>>>>History: According to Ait Hiba Abdelhad, a fireball was seen in the
>>>>afternoon sky on December 16, 2012, several school children saw the
>>>>fireball explode and detonations were heard near the village of
>>>>Mehaires, Western Sahara. Pieces were recovered approximately 40
>miles
>>>>south of Mehaires, near Mre?ra, Mauritania, only a few days after
>the
>>>>event. The strewn field is in the area called "Stailt Omgrain",
>which
>>>>is a local nomadic name. This is south of Mehaires and north of the
>>>>mountain "Galbe lahmar". Therefore this is a possible fall
>associated
>>>>with the fireball of December 16, 2012.
>>>>
>>>>*******Possible fall? What else do you need? *******
>>>>
>>>>Meteoritical Bulletin for Mreira
>>>>
>>>>http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?sea=Mre%C3%AFra&sfor=names&ants=&falls=&valids=&stype=contains&lrec=50&map=ge&browse=&country=All&srt=name&categ=All&mblist=All&rect=&phot=&snew=0&pnt=Normal%20table&code=57653
>>>
>>> --
>>> Matt Morgan
>>> Mile High Meteorites
>>> PO Box 151293
>>> Lakewood CO 80215 USA
>>> http://www.mhmeteorites.com
>>> Find Us on Facebook
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Rock On!
>>
>> Ruben Garcia
>> http://www.MrMeteorite.com
>> ______________________________________________
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-- 
Matt Morgan
Mile High Meteorites
PO Box 151293
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http://www.mhmeteorites.com
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Received on Tue 11 Mar 2014 04:19:00 PM PDT