[meteorite-list] Lloydminster family reaps falling star windfall - Buzzard Coulee Meteorite

[Meteorites USA]

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Lloydminster family reaps falling star windfall
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They caught a falling star and put it in their pocket to enjoy an 
out-of-this-world cash windfall.

Tara Patmore, who lives in Lloydminster on the Alberta-Saskatchewan 
border, was among dozens of people who along with her husband found 21 
pieces of the massive Buzzard Coulee meteor that lit up western Canadian 
skies in November.

And now she’s cashing in the little rocks, some as small as her palm, 
that landed in her father’s former farm by selling them to friends as 
well as to strangers via the Internet on Kijiji and Craigslist.

“It’s amazing what people will pay — it’s just a rock, but they did come 
from outer space,” she said.

“They are dark and black on the outside, like charcoal almost — the 
inside looks like cement, with silver flakes.”

Her friend bought one for $1,800 and the ones listed on Kiij and 
Craiglist are selling for anywhere from $7 a gram to $25 a gram, the 
smallest being 19 g and largest weighing in at 159 g.

Profits from the meteorite fragments even bought her 17-year-old son 
Kyle his truck insurance.

While they are a unique find, Patmore admits she decided to sell the 
meteorites just to make a bit of money, and to share the discoveries 
with others.

“If someone is going to spend thousands of dollars ... they evidently 
really want it and are going to treasure them,” she said.

She has kept a couple of the meteor mementoes for herself and her aunt 
is making pendants out of hers.

Her father also donated some to the University of Calgary.

SOURCE: http://www.calgarysun.com/news/alberta/2009/05/30/9626006.html 
katie.schneider at sunmedia.ca


-- 
Regards,
Eric Wichman
Meteorites USA
http://www.meteoritesusa.com
904-236-5394