[meteorite-list] rare info on bonita springs, fl

[bernd.pauli at paulinet.de]

> many of you bought the bonita springs samples i had
> on ebay (thanks!). i got an interesting email form one
> of the buyers who grandfather evidently was the finder.
> name withheld for privacy.

Well, the name is not so very private because it was mentioned
in a post sent to the List by David Weir back in 2000. Here is
what David wrote on Thursday, 24 Feb 2000):

"This ordinary chondrite weighing 41.8 kg (92 pounds) is only one of four
meteorites found in Florida, all of them stony. Details published in the
Naples Daily News for July 4, 1993 describe the events of the day in 1938
or 1939 when Reginald Lyles went digging in a local Indian sand mound that
measured 300 feet in diameter and 6 feet high, located between Bonita Beach
Road and the Imperial River about halfway between U.S. 41 and the beach. While
searching for relics, he found the large rock situated amid several skeletons.
It was not until 1956, after having spent many years laying outside under a
mango tree that the meteorite was brought to the attention of the Smithsonian
and a sample sent in for authentication. The meteorite was subsequently purchased
by Smithsonian Meteorite Curator Dr. Edward Henderson for the sum of $200, and
samples have been distributed through the years to many other institutions
including those in New York, Chicago, Boston, Australia, and Russia."


Best wishes,

Bernd

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