[meteorite-list] Meteorite research

[MARK BOSTICK]

Hello Barb (and list),

<<<<"Mark, I’m new to the meteorite-list but surmise from reading that 
you’ve got a good handle on meteorite history. Do you have any insight into 
the following:"

I am going to assume (you know what they say about that) and guess that you 
were directly this question to me, there are a few Marks here (but many more 
Mike's).  I get a couple dozen like e-mails a month through my website, and 
I am somewhat a meteorite historian, so I am not going to far out here.

<<<<"A piece of this specimen is at ASU for positive ID. It is stoney, does 
not attract a magnet, with lots of large condrules. The time (1881) may be 
off a few years. It belongs to a friend of ours."
Glad to hear that.  ASU will surely be able to tell you what it is...or at 
least if it is a meteorite.

<<<<"In 1881 Andrew Jackson Warner was driving a stagecoach approximately 
fifteen miles west of Rose City Michigan when he heard what he described as 
a train passing over his head. Looking up he saw a large rock plunge to the 
ground in front and to the side of his route. He stopped the stage, got off 
and walked to where the rock had come to rest. It was slightly imbedded in 
the ground but was not hot enough to start a fire. He got back on the stage 
and drove to his destination – Damon Michigan about nine miles away.

<<<<He put the stage away then hooked the horses to a large wooden sled 
called a stone boat. He returned to the impact site and using the horses he 
pulled the rock upon the sled. He estimated it weighed about 900 pounds. He 
secured it to the sled with wire and pulled it into Damon and off loaded it 
at the Damon School Yard where it lay for over 75 years. Over the years 
about twenty pounds was chipped away for souvenirs.

<<<<Warner’s great-great-great grandson retrieved it from the school yard 
and has it stored in a garage. The remaining mass and pieces total about 750 
pounds.

<<<<Damon was a logging camp which was abandoned years ago."

Interestingly there is a Rose City, Michigan meteorite.  It fell October 
17th, 1921 and was the fourth meteorite known from Michigan, the second seen 
to fall.

On the event you described, there is not much I can really tell you from 
what you have supplied.  If I was given a date of the reported fall, I could 
check my archives for Michigan and area meteor reports from that time.  I 
included a couple meteor reports below as a example. (For those outside of 
the US, Indiana is below Michigan.) I should also note that even if I could 
match up a date and a meteor report, there would of course be no way of 
proving the two events were related.

Good luck with your submission, and should you have any other questions, 
feel free to ask myself, or the list in general.

Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
Wichita, Kansas
http://www.meteoritearticles.com
http://www.imca.cc



Paper: Fort Wayne Daily Gazette
City: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Date: Sunday Morning, September 25, 1881
Page: 2 (of 8)

Under "CITY NEWS."

     A meteor of surprising brilliancy was observed last night, falling due 
west at an angle of about 80 degrees, and disappearing from view in the 
northwest. It started falling at 11 h. 22 m. 33 s., Fort Wayne time, and 
finished 6 seconds later. To-day will be fine and clear though somewhat 
windy.

(end)

Paper: Fort Wayne Daily Gazette
City: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Date: Thursday Morning, October 6, 1881
Page: 2 (of 8)

A Southern Meteor.

     Tuesday night about 10 o'clock the residents in the upper portion of 
the city were treated to a meteoric exhibition of wonderful brilliancy. The 
meteor seemed to shoot across the sky from south-west to north-east, its 
path being marked by a radiance far greater than that of the electric light. 
It finally exploded, sending out burning fragments or coruscations in every 
direction. The writer is informed by persons who saw the meteor that it was 
accompanied by a whizzing sound, and that the noise of the explosion was so 
loud that they momentarily expected to hear the fragments falling.

(end)