[meteorite-list] Hammer fall term (this poor poor horse)

[Michael Farmer]

How do you come up with this? I was at the New Orleans house 40 hours after t fell. While it was not seen to hit the house, the homeowner had gone to work at 7 am and returned home at 5 pm finding his house full of rocks and destruction. The neighbors reported huge crashing noise like a car accident at ~4  pm I think, and several airline pilots reported a fireball. 
I am pretty sure that the fact that the meteorite went through 3 floors that day  
That the noncom had enough evidence to know that the New Orleans meteorite  fell on that date between the hours of 7 am and 5 pm.

How can you guys take the simplest thing like fall and find and yap about it for days?

Perhaps some people need to try knitting for a hobby, seems less controversial.
Michael Farmer 

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 14, 2012, at 9:09 PM, Michael Gilmer <meteoritemike at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi John and List,
> 
> Good question.  Let me attempt to answer.  If I fail, perhaps Capt.
> Blood will chime in or another hammerhead will jump to the rescue.
> 
> All hammers are falls, because if a hammer falls and nobody is around
> to notice it, it will never be discovered....and is therefore not a
> hammer or a fall.
> 
> Let me put it this way - New Orleans is a recent example of an
> unwitnessed hammer that is considered a fall.  When the New Orleans
> meteorite fell, penetrated the house and left a path of minor
> destruction (writing desk, etc), nobody was home.  The owners were out
> and did not come home to find the cosmic damage until later.  In this
> particular case, nobody directly witnessed the fall or the damage
> being done.  If I recall correctly, there were no indirect witnesses
> as well - no radar track, no fireball video, no other witnesses on the
> ground.  The find was determined to be a fall based on - the freshness
> of the material found, the testimony of the homeowners, and the
> obvious damage caused by this material.
> 
> Met Bull states that the New Orleans meteorite is a fall, so it is
> therefore a "observed fall" or "witnessed fall" in officially-approved
> nomenclature and accepted use amongst the majority of collectors and
> dealers.  Additionally, some hammerheads may refer to it as a "hammer
> fall".  Also of note, New Orleans is a single stone fall, therefore
> the New Orleans meteorite is a "hammer stone" because it struck a
> house and manmade objects.
> 
> Under different circumstances, the New Orleans meteorite may have gone
> unnoticed and unreported.  The lower 9th Ward of New Orleans is
> desolate today, as a result of lingering damage from hurricane
> Katrina.  Large stretches of homes and businesses are vacant and
> falling into disrepair.  There are squatters, homeless persons, gang
> elements, and other transients that reside in the area.  The same is
> true for other areas of New Orleans to varying degrees.  If the stone
> had fallen in one of these houses, with no first-hand witnesses, it is
> likely to lay undiscovered and be carted off to the landfill when the
> city finally bulldozes the property.  In such a case, the fall and
> damage were never noticed, it is never reported, no material is ever
> recovered, and the meteorite is never officially recognized or named.
> 
> Also keep in mind, the criteria for officially approving a meteorite
> as a "fall" has changed to some degree over the years.  Or could say,
> the criteria was more rigidly enforced in some publications than
> others.  There are several cases of witnessed falls where the witness
> reports are several years or more removed from recovery of specimens
> on the ground.  Some fall dates have uncertain dates or just a date
> range (summer of 18xx, etc).  Some finds could be regarded as falls
> and there is some debate or uncertainty around the circumstances (or
> find location) that resulted in a fall classification being rejected.
> 
> So, what I am getting at in a rambling fashion is this - if it is a
> hammer in the true and accepted sense, then it could be called a
> "hammer fall" or "witnessed fall" or "observed fall" or just a "fall"
> - depending on whether or not the term is being used officially or
> just casually.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> MikeG
> 
> PS - I think this horse is now officially pulverized beyond
> recognition.  To continue this discussion line any further will
> require someone to acquire a new horse for consideration and possible
> flogging.
> 
> -- 
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> Galactic Stone & Ironworks - MikeG
> 
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> 
> 
> On 6/14/12, John Hendry <pict at pict.co.uk> wrote:
>> Any hammer finds recorded? i.e. there's a big stone in the attic and a hole
>> 
>> in the roof, but nobody saw it fall.
>> 
>> John
>> 
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