Tell me this ain't a bummer

[Walker 0]

This is what you get from the Post Office when you send a potential meteorite through the mail and they lose it. It's enough to make a guy go "postal". :angry-smiley-010:

[azdigger 1,474]

Massive BUMMER :smilie_pinoc: I would tell them they just lost a MOST valuable Meteorite and they need to compensate you for it.

I doubt they will but I am sorry to hear they lost it. hope ya find a better one.

[azaware 4]

What did you send? The Whole meteor or part and you could of insured it and you didn't? I guess if I send one in what $100,000.

Kim

[Mr Hunter Man 0]

MAN that sux!! Should have insured it. Do you still have the main mass left? If not you are allowed to go postal, I give you permission :innocent0002:

Thanks,

Joe Kerchner

[El Dorado 965]

Certified mail has a signed track log for every person that touches the package, plus it is stored in a safe when not in motion. I would demand an investigation with the P.O. Do not ake a no answere from anyone, keep moving up the chain and be a very courtious but demanding.

OOps I was thinking Certified, but it is Registered mail that is the most secure..........

Good Luck....

[Walker 0]

I still have the main mass but someone has a nice slice. I also have photos, so if somewhere, sometime, somehow-the missing piece should happen to show up,... :hmmmmmm: :ph34r2:

Anyway, I wanted to share this with everyone as food for thought. I have had pretty good luck with the PO in general but the first time I mail something that matters, :shrug: It won't happen again, and I will be visiting the PO after the holiday insanity calms down. At the very least I think they owe me a refund.

Marty

[Basaltgooroo 1]

thats unfortunate. good luck.

[Mr Hunter Man 0]

Could you post a phot here? would like to see what we are talking about. Good Luck!!

HH,

Joe Kerchner

[Nugget Shooter 4,621]

Yes I see those from time to time...I ship 100s of packages a year and a few are lost each year as well. Not so many now that I use only Priority mail, but I have one to HI missing as we speak. They are much more careful when you insure them as well.

I was using media mail for books and will never do that again....

Bummer...

Bill

[Walker 0]

UPDATE: It was found! :whoopie:

Evidently it was never lost- The Post Office just thought it was. Anyhoo, I didn't get the news I wanted from ASU but it wasn't definite bad news either. The letter they sent me was a pretty standard form letter which had the phrase, "....it does not appear to resemble the meteorites in our collections". I knew that already. If it is anything it is a highly weathered achondrite. Well, I choose to remain optimistic based on the handwritten note at the bottom of the page. "This is a very interesting rock. Unfortunately, we do not have the facilities to determine if it is achondritic in nature. This would require extentive petrologic and isotopic analysis which is expensive and time consuming". It was signed by Laurence Garvie, ASU Center for Meteorite Studies. And they sent my small slice back in a little zipper baggie.

I think it is worth passing on to others that if your sample is like mine, places like ASU may just look at your rock and not much more. Still, it's neat that such experts will offer their opinions to help us out. And at least it wasn't lost.

I'm not holding my breath but I'll hang on to it until I can show the main mass to someone in person. The matrix of this dang thing is identical to DAG 844. :hmmmmmm:

[Basaltgooroo 1]

thats kinda exciting! you should send it somewhere else cause now im curious as to if it is a meteorite!

do you have pics of it you could share?

[Erik]

[Walker 0]

thats kinda exciting! you should send it somewhere else cause now im curious as to if it is a meteorite!

do you have pics of it you could share?

I think I would have to walk it to someone in person, point out the significant aspects, and see if it would qualify for the definite tests. I'm not too far from UCLA- Maybe I could swing by there sometime. I mentioned having it tested to a contact of mine when I was working at JPL last summer and wished I hadn't. It was the same reaction I got when I asked him why my GPS goes haywire when I get close to the (delete) building. Those guys have no sense of humor.

I wish I could do better in the photographic department. Here's about the best I can muster right now.

This is a 1 inch long slice off a corner that I polished to get a look at the matrix. Also, if you look at the upper surface, from the center toward the right, you can see remanants of a fusion crust sitting on top of the matrix. I've given the slice the acid test too: Nary a fizz from some pretty strong hydrochloric acid. And of course it is slightly magnetic and weakly tests positive for nickel with AllerTest Ni.

I'll see if I can mess with contrast etc. on a pic of the main 350 gram piece. It's difficult to make features show up in a photo that are obvious in person. If anyone is curious, I found it near Cantil, California. Salt flats desert, hardly any vegetation, and even less in the way of any kind of rocks.