[meteorite-list] Fwd: Meteorite hunter takes £10,000 rock to auction - And a part

[Anne Black]

On behalf of Rob Elliott:

And Thank you Rob, it is good to hear from you.


Anne M. Black
www.IMPACTIKA.com
IMPACTIKA at aol.com


-----Original Message-----
From: FERNLEA4 <FERNLEA4 at aol.com>
To: impactika <impactika at aol.com>
Sent: Mon, Aug 19, 2013 2:54 pm
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite hunter takes £10,000 rock to 
auction - And a part

<< will contact the Guardian, the Auction House and Rob Elliott and 
explain to them how wrong they are. >> 
 
Hi Anne.
 
Hope all is well with you.
Don't worry, I'm not that naive!! :-) I may no longer be one of the 
major meteorite dealers, but I'm still as involved with the meteorite 
world as I ever was. I haven't posted to the List in perhaps 10 years, 
yet I still lurk.
 
To explain.......
In my case, press releases are written by a third party, usually with 
little or no knowledge of meteorites, but with a whole bunch of 
enthusiasm. Perhaps a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I 
rarely get to read and approve them, sadly.
The press releases are then sent to newspapers, radio, tv, etc. and 
more often than not, sensationalised before going to press. Depending 
on the publication, accuracy isn't always a priority.
 
Another publication or a press agency may take part of that printed 
article, add their own "flavour" to it, possibly call me for a quote 
(not always), and then print it. And so it goes on.....it can end up 
being a game of Chinese Whispers, where the finished article bears 
little resemblence to the original release or quotes given. I don't 
even remember speaking with The Guardian, so I'm pretty sure the 
journalist took third, fourth or even fifth-hand information, and did 
his best.
There have been some excellent articles about my auction, and some 
poorly written articles with a whole bunch or errors and paragraphs 
simply made-up.
 
Regarding the "smuggling" rubbish, I was horrified to read that. I 
remember saying something along the lines of how the Russian 
Government, had quickly clamped down on all of those in and around 
Chelyabinsk, who were selling fake meteorites within hours of the fall, 
even bits of mud and earth from the town, and claiming some sort of 
weird meteorite significance, just for a bit of profit.
I received many pieces of Chelyabinsk from Russia, all with the hefty 
UK import duty and value added tax charges paid in full, and with the 
paperwork to prove it.
 

I've been collecting meteorites for 20 years and I learned how the 
media works long ago. It's not something to take on lightly, especially 
if it goes national or world-wide. Sadly, some journalists don't let 
the facts get in the way of a good story!!
 
If you could post this to the List on my behalf, I'd be very grateful.
 
Cheers,
Rob.

Rob Elliott
www.meteorites.uk.com
Fernlea Meteorites,
The Wynd,
Off Dickson Lane,
Milton of Balgonie,
Fife. KY7 6PY
United Kingdom
Telephone: 01592-751563
Mobile: 07880-888660
International Tel: +44-1592-751563
Email: fernlea4 at aol.com
Laptop #1