[meteorite-list] Fake Norway Rock

[Greg Crinklaw]

On 4/10/2014 2:15 PM, Joshua Tree Earth & Space Museum wrote:
> I stand by my conclusion. Anyone who looks at a video showing a pebble
> popping out of a parachute, then concludes it was a meteoroid in dark
> flight has been duped.

Nobody has made such a conclusion, at least not posted to this forum. 
For that matter, if you listen carefully, none of the scientists or 
parachutists involved with the original investigation made such a 
conclusion either. We all knew it was highly unlikely right from the 
start. You surely are't alone in that.

There seems to be a cultural divide at work here.

People love absolutes, but there are few if any absolutes in the real 
world. Recognizing the possibility exists, however vanishingly small, 
that this was a meteorite, is how a scientist is trained to report 
things. That's all Chris was doing. It is an important part of being 
intellectually honest. The chance may be one in a billion, but that's 
not the same as zero.

The evidence does not yet completely rule out that this rock was a 
meteorite. Please consider that stating this fact is not the same thing 
as believing that the rock was a meteorite after all, nor even that 
there is more than the tiniest chance that it is.

Greg

-- 
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico
skyhound.com