[meteorite-list] NPA 12-24-1941 Colorado Men Strike Meteor (Wrong?), Nininger

MARK BOSTICK thebigcollector at msn.com
Wed Dec 29 09:30:48 EST 2004


Paper: Reno Evening Gazette
City: Reno, Nevada
Date: Wednesday, December 24, 1941
Page: 18

Colorado Men Strike Meteor

    A magnetometer operated by Harry Aurand, Denver geologist is reported to 
have located the large meteorite that is being investigated by Dr. H.H. 
Nininger, Denver expert in this line of research. This meteorite came to 
earth in the San Luis valley of Colorado. The magnetometer indicated the 
position of the meteor at a depth of eighty feet, the Mining Record reports.
     A water well drill struck the meteorite but the metal could not be 
penetrated. A more powerful drill was used and a few small pieces were 
brought to the surface with a magnet. These samples are said to show nickel. 
It is probable that a shaft will be sunk and torches used to split up the 
meteor. Nininger says the meteor will in his opinion weigh millions of tons.
     The big meteorite formed a crater near the foot of Crestone Peak, on 
Baca Grant, south of the town of Crestone.
     The next step in the study will be to take a diamond drill from Denver 
and attack the meteorite with this. An electromagnet will be used to bring 
fragments to the surface for examination. If this final proof is found, Dr. 
Nininger plans to direct tunneling operations from outside the west rim of 
the crater to recover the big cosmic body. The actual excavation will not be 
attempted until next spring, it was indicated, as winter is making 
operations more difficult at the crater.

(see more below)

Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
Wichita, Kansas
http://www.meteoritearticles.com/
http://www.kansasmeteoritesociety.com
http://www.imca.cc

http://stores.ebay.com/meteoritearticles

Reminders:

PDF copy of this article is available upon e-mail request.

The NPA in the subject line, stands for Newspaper Article. I have been doing 
this to for use of the meteorite-list search engine:

http://www.mail-archive.com/meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com/maillist.html

NOTE: I contacted Jack Murphy, curator emeritus of the Denver
Museum of Nature and Science, who is writing a book on Colorado meteorites.
I asked about the possibility of this being an actual meteorite crater. He replied:

(7-11-2005)
Good to hear from you on this obscure subject. No, not a crater,
although at the time the people were optomistic as can be seen in the article.
I am covering this topic and some others like it in my book on Colorado
meteorites (under preparation) and you can read Andy Caldwells
Masters thesis (U. of No. Colorado) the only one to write up this "Crestone Crater"
for many years.

Best regards,
Jack Murphy
Curator of Geology Emeritus


Also see: A Re-examination of the Crater near Crestone, Colorado


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