[meteorite-list] PA fall media hype

[Joe Kerchner]

GREAT post Steve. I agree 100%. I have not read the 1999 Smithsonian mag, but I have seen Meteorite Men. I learned a lot from it and it got me wanting to hunt even more than I already do, that can't be a bad thing. I'm sure im not the only one. I am sure you show will help some new finds to undoubtedly be found by people who saw your show. Keep up the good work and I wish you, Geoff and everyone else hunting over there the best of luck on the July 6th fall hunt. Can't wait to see the pics of the new finds I am sure that will be found soon.
Best of Luck,
Joe Kerchner



----- Original Message ----
From: "MeteorHntr at aol.com" <MeteorHntr at aol.com>
To: meteoriteguy at yahoo.com; meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 11:31:05 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] PA fall media hype

Hello Michael and all,

I am sorry for being so delayed in responding  to your post.  I have been 
busy today interviewing with the Fox TV  station in York, and the NBC station 
in Lancaster and some other network (maybe  ABC) in Baltimore. Then I had a 
radio interview with NPR after that.  It  has been a busy day doing all 
this media stuff.

Back in the day, when  your mentor Casper was still haunting the Meteorite 
List, he tried to get people  into online fights all the time.  But back 
then every time I was tempted to  reply to him, I was reminded of an old 
saying: "Don't get in a mud wrestling  match with a pig, as you both will get 
muddy, and the pig will just enjoy  it."

I know you like nothing better than to get into arguments.  And  trust me, 
I am not entering this dialog with you just so you can get your  jollies.  I 
figure it is about time to make a response. 

I have  remained quiet for over a year as you just seem to go on and on and 
on and on  and on and on and on ad infinitum.  In a way, it is funny.  In a 
way  it really is sad.  

Let me pick a few things to address, from your  post:  

"This is out of control..."  Out of control?  What makes you  think it 
isn't in control? 

You are "sickened by these stories..."  You?  Sickened?  By stories?  LOL  
I thought you were born  with your condition. 

You don't hold your cards to your chest?   Umm...ok?

Offers in papers to pay more and not to sell to greedy dealers  on the 
ground???  Not sure what you mean by that...but ok.

The  endless media hype is getting old to you?  Get used to it, it is about 
to  get kicked up about 7 fold!  Literally, 7 fold.  I would say "I am  
sorry," but I'm not.  It is called marketing, and it will  continue.

Every email?  Are you referring to my signature of "Steve  Arnold of 
Meteorite Men" at the end of my Meteorite List emails?  If so,  let me clue you 
in.  If you haven't noticed, there is another person in our  community and on 
this list, who has the same name as I do.  I used to sign  my name "Steve 
Arnold #1" then at times I would use "Steve Arnold from  Arkansas."  Neither 
of those I was ever really comfortable in using, but I  felt it was very 
necessary to distinguish me from the Steve Arnold in  Chicago.  

Both, people on the List, and those off the List that stumble onto  posts 
such as this one, maybe via Google, might get confused at times.  Now  that I 
am more known because of the Meteorite Men show I have figured that  I 
would rather start using the name from which I am now more known.  It is  not a 
matter of "promoting the show" but more to identify me.   I  would say "I am 
sorry that you are offended," but I'm  not.

Every Ebay auction?  Are you referring to my ebay auctions  where I mention 
who I am and how I am known to the general public?  In this  day of 
questionable sellers on ebay, I list something  that distinguishes me.  

By the way, is this criticism coming from the same man that for at least 7  
or 8 or 9 or 10 years ceaselessly mentioned in each and every one of his 
Ebay  auctions: "See me in the 1999 Smithsonian Magazine"???   ROTFLMAO   My 
prime time show first aired ONLY 60 days ago, and  will air 4 more times in 
this next week.  And you are already tired of my  Ebay listings mention it?  
LOL

Besides, what on Earth is wrong with saying "Yes, I am that guy on the TV  
show!"???   If you don't like it Mike, don't read "EVERY" one of my  Ebay 
listings.  No one makes you read each and every one I put up.   Chill out 
dude, really it is ok.

How long must you endure this  "hype?"  Well, again, my suggestion is to 
get used to the marketing, it  will continue.  I would say "I am sorry," but 
you guessed it, I'm  not.

"Just get out there an work" you say?  Umm, as if I am not  working now?  
Or are you saying that listing things on Ebay is "not  working"?  LOL  This 
is too funny.

My fame is not even worth  $1.00?  And may I ask what you base that 
calculation on?  I would  say my fame is worth at least $2.00, maybe even a quarter 
more.   How much is your 1999 Smithsonian Magazine fame worth  anyway?

"Walking, blisters, sunburns, that will find meteorites..." Oh,  you mean 
like the 28 days in a row I spent in West walking, getting  blisters (albeit 
no sunburns) and kicking butt finding rather than buying  meteorites?  OK, I 
will try to remember what impresses people like  you.  Oh wait, your 
weren't impressed with what I did in West...now I am  confused...

"In NONE of those articles is there a peep that locals in  that area need 
to get out and walk the streets, look for black burned stones,  check the 
lawn, parking lots, parks..... Why not?"    Um, well,  many of those stories 
that ran were in the Baltimore, Maryland market and not in  the Pennsylvania 
market where the meteorites actually are.  To tell people  in Baltimore, over 
an hour away from the strewnfield, to look for rocks would be  a bit 
misleading wouldn't it?   Besides, when I did the first series  of interviews, my 
objective was to find more videos of the fireball (from  security cameras 
from far away places).  With those I felt the strewnfield  could better be 
identified.  

Ironically, today when I was interviewing with the York, PA and  Lancaster, 
PA, TV shows, I actually did talk about black rocks, showing them  several 
West stones, magnets attached and all.  Why?  Because those  news stories 
were being broadcast in the areas where the rocks are. 

But  just because they didn't print in the papers what you wanted to see, 
at first  doesn't mean that I didn't tell some things they didn't report on.  
Of  course, we all know you are the expert at getting reporters to write 
exactly  what you want them to.  

For the rest of us, reporters have a way of writing stories they think  
their readers will want to read, not always what we want them to.  I had a  
producer/cameraman with me, so when the print reporters asked me who this  is 
filming me and why, I told them who it was and that we were filming for the  
Meteorite Men TV series.  I guess the REPORTERS felt that this piece  of 
information was a news worthy enough thing to comment on.  Did I  actively 
promote that is why we were here and that is what I wanted them to  write about? 
No.  Did I mention it?  Yes.  

Of  course, if it ads to my credibility, that maybe Discovery Networks and 
Science  Channel (who's International Headquarters so happens to be just  
outside of Baltimore, Maryland) feel I am credible enough to be on  their 
networks, then maybe what I have to say on the matter of meteorites might  hold 
some significance, then why not use it?  

Are you telling me that you would not mention that you are on a show that  
is currently airing if you were?  

I could say that I appeared in the Smithsonian Magazine in 1999 but I  
decided not to...oh, wait, it is someone else that holds that claim to fame, not 
me.  LOL 

If I keep hyping myself, you claim this July 6th meteorite  will be lost?  
I can tell you haven't even been following this story too  closely, have 
you?  You have been too busy getting a sunburn I guess, which  is cool, except 
it makes yourself look foolish when you spout off like  this.  The single 
person that started this is the reporter/blogger for the  Baltimore Sun, Frank 
Roylance.  If you read his blogs, and read his stories  this week, 
including his replies to comments by his blog readers, you will see  that early on 
he strongly doubted that any meteorites would have survived this  fall.  
After persistent communication with him, he slowly opened to the  idea that if 
there were such strong sonic booms, then maybe, like I said from  the start, 
maybe there could be some rocks on the ground.  I seriously  doubt that if I 
would have bombarded him with insisting that he write that  everyone needs 
to drop everything and start looking for black  magnet-attracted rocks, 
nothing extra would have been mentioned beyond his  first blog post.  Instead, 
he found in my interview what he and his editor  thought was an interesting 
story that their readers would like to  read.

But to have the gall to blame me that if nothing is recovered, it  is all 
my fault, is so typically you, Mike.  

How about this theory instead:  If the meteorite from July 6th is not  
recovered and is thus "lost," it is all YOUR fault!!!  

If only YOU cared enough to come up here yourself, you would have no doubt  
done everything perfect.  You would have led all the media into writing the 
perfect stories.  And then you would have led all of the citizens of  
Pennsylvania and Maryland combined on a "Team Farmer Expedition" to not only  
recover some of the meteorites, but ALL of them!  And probably they would  all 
have been found by now, and we would all be reading your posts about how  
great you and your exploits are. 

Would I have written the stories and  reported the TV news casts 
differently if I could have?  Sure.  

Have I learned some things on this trip? Sure.  

I plan on  working on a Fact Sheet that might help get relevant issues and 
facts at least  in front of the reporters nest time, so that even if they 
forget to ask me a  question they don't know they should ask, and if I forget 
to tell them something  that I probably should, they will still have easy 
access to those  facts.

"Sad" you say?  Yes!  I finally agree with you on  something Mike.  Your 
post was indeed "sad."

Now, I have to go shower and wash off all this mud.  And then get  back to 
the leads that are still coming in.

Steve Arnold
of "Meteorite  Men"   ;-)





In a message dated 7/10/2009 2:44:08  P.M. Central Daylight Time, 
meteoriteguy at yahoo.com writes:

This is out of  control, endless media hype by those seeking nothing but 
fame, and nothing about  what the public should be looking for. 
After days of walking, I am sitting  here in Tucson, playing with two week 
old meteorites, and resting my  blister-covered feet and catching up on the 
last few days of emails. 
I am  sickened by these stories, the backstabbing already in full swing out 
east. We  don't want and by holding our cards to our chest, we don't have 
that problem out  here. I hope everyone can see that now. Offers in papers 
about "paying more, and  don't sell to greedy dealers on the ground, just call 
me" etc. Now you know why  we don't want any help with our fall. We are 
working together, and finding  stones. 

I speak for myself here, so any crap needs come to me, as my  teammates and 
friends are in the field right now, but work must be done since I  am at 
home and I am taking today to recuperate.

This endless media blitz  over "Meteorite-Men" is getting old. Every email, 
every eBay auction, every  mention of some people to throw that quip in. 
How long must we endure this hype?  Come on, just get out there and work, your 
fame is worth about $1.00 in the  field. Walking, blisters, sunburns, that 
will find meteorites, not talking about  your show. 
In NONE of those articles is there a peep that locals in that  area need to 
get out and walk the streets, look for black burned stones, check  the 
lawn, parking lots, parks..... Why not? Tell people what to do, not the  prices 
per gram, it has to be found to be sold.
If this PA stone is found, it  won't be with the pictures but by a person 
mowing their lawn, or driving down  the road. Focus on the hunt, use the 
locals and this can be found, keep hyping  yourselves and it is just publicity, 
and the meteorite will be  lost.
Sad.
Michael Farmer

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