[meteorite-list] METEORITE IS METEORWRONG / AP

[Darryl Pitt]

I posted this to the list earlier and it didn't appear (at least it  
didn't arrive to me);

========================


While it was determined by experts that the NJO is not a meteorite,  
in Friday's AP story, Rutgers geologist Jerry Delaney was quoted as  
saying,"I was wrong. Sneaky little devil."

The second sentiment is not even remotely accurate.

As I mentioned to the list in January, there was absolutely nothing  
about the NJO which resembled a new meteorite. I advised the Newark  
Star Ledger, The New York Times and AP in writing that the NJO was  
not a meteorite. I contacted the museum at Rutgers prior to their  
exhibition of the object---which generated the largest attendance on  
a single day---that this was not a meteorite.

The only "sneaky little devils" are the folks at Rutgers.

Stories are released on Friday nights so the story will miss the news  
cycle.  It's for stories that would cause embarrassment; it's for  
those moments where you hope the story disappears.

This is just so deplorable---and it's not an isolated instance of how  
an institution with something to gain---and the media---work.  But  
for scientists to be so sloppy in THEIR work is just  
so....disappointing. As I wrote to the list several months ago:  
"While [this] may ultimately be among the most unusual freshly fallen  
meteorites known to exist, such an assessment cannot and should not  
ever have been made by simply passing it around for a casual analysis  
and singing kumbaya."

Here is the latest story....in case you missed it.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070511/ap_on_sc/fallen_object

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