[meteorite-list] Not an answer they like

[bill kies]

I have a prewritten reply that includes a link to Washington University. When all reason fails I send them links to Steve Curry news articles.





From: Meteorite-list <meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com> on behalf of tracy latimer via Meteorite-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2021 2:28 PM
To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Subject: [meteorite-list] Not an answer they like 
 
I've been fielding a lot of e-mails this week from someone who is certain that a meteorite nearly hit their house.  The picture they sent me is of what looks like a weathered lava bomb that likely washed free of an upslope location and rolled/fell/bounced into his yard.  They found it the following day after a "loud thump that shook the house", then picked it up and hosed it off, so don't have any pictures of it in situ, just a shallow hole with muddy splash marks.  I've told them several times that it doesn't look like a meteorite: vesicles, not regmaglypts; no fusion crust, nothing that identifies it as a likely meteorite, but they don't want to hear it.  Anyone who has dealt with a persistent "meteorite" finder, how did you eventually get them to listen to reason/experience -- or not?

Best!
Tracy Latimer