by Robert Verish

Out of the Office - In the Field

It's that time of year again - Meteorite Recovery Season - that short period of time after the Spring rains cease and before the Summer heat bears down. While this "best time of year" is upon us, it certainly would be prudent to "make hay" and concentrate ones time and energy into getting away from the computer and out in the field to search for meteorites. And that is exactly what my plans are for this month. And it wouldn't be prudent to spend that time WRITING about finding meteorites.

So, having said all of that, I will now inform you that this month's article will be postponed until such time that it is too hot to go out to the desert. That time may be as soon as this weekend, considering how variable the weather has been this year. Or it may not get "really hot" until Labor Day! In any case, there is much area to cover, and too little time to do it.

Another factor that makes this year busier than previous years is that, apparently, more meteorites are being found! If I'm wrong about that, then for some reason there's a lot more people coming to me and informing me about their meteorite finds. And if this isn't just some transitory spike in activity, then there are either a lot more people out there looking for meteorites, or the same ol' hunters are just getting that much better at finding them!

In the meanwhile, I hope you enjoy your summer vacation, - and -
"don't take any wooden nickel-irons!" :-))
Here's an example of some recent meteor-wrongs that have been coming out of the Ridgecrest-InyoKern area of the Mojave Desert:

Compare this to the specimens that appear in Ken Newton's "Ferro-Manganese" (Fe-Mn silicide) web page!

More specimens of this type of material have been found - identified - documented in SUBSEQUENT "Bob's Findings" articles titled, "Slag Meteor-wrongs".