posted 08-14-2003 09:15 AM               

Thursday August 14, 5:20 am ET

LINCOLN, Neb., Aug. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Now is your chance to own a rare 1.3 Billion year old piece of the Red Planet! The largest known specimen in circulation (188 grams) of the famous Mars rock Zagami, is owned by a private individual, and will be auctioned on eBay beginning on September 5th by Sell2All, Inc., of Lincoln, Nebraska. Bidding starts at $450,000. Zagami fell to Earth October 3rd, 1962 in central Nigeria. Some estimates value this specimen at over $2,000,000. Displayed for several years in Nigeria's prestigious Kaduna Museum, one side is Museum cut to display the internal layers and another side has been left natural with a black flanked crust to show the fusion (actual burning and melting) of the rock as it passed at high speeds through the atmosphere while falling to earth. Referenced over 3000 times on internet search engines, this specimen has been shown all over the world. See NASA's website for the complete Zagami story at http://www-curator.jsc.nasa.gov/curator/antmet/mmc/Zagami.pdf . Information and pictures are available at www.sell2all.com/mars .

We are about to experience a phenomenon that will never occur again in our lifetime! Astronomers say this month Mars is getting closer to Earth and has not come this close (within 34,649,589 miles) in the last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years. On August 27 at 75-power magnification Mars may look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. The owner of this Zagami specimen is hoping to sell this rare specimen for an even closer look! Out of 22,000 meteorites known to man, only 13 are actually known to be "Martian."

Several Planetariums have expressed strong interest in owning this specific Zagami rock. The owners are hoping someone will buy it to donate to their favorite Planetarium in his or her honor. Also, private art collectors with "everything" who enjoy one-of-a-kind pieces could be potential buyers.

Documentation of authenticity is provided by author and speaker John Saul, Ph.D., an Independent Registered Geologist who was selected "as the meteorite expert" by the scientific board which oversaw the drilling of the well known Siljan meteorite impact in Sweden. In the certification John states, "I have never personally seen a finer specimen of any of the Mars Meteorites in the hands of a private individual."

The meteorite was also authenticated by Jean-Claude Boulliard in 2001. Mr. Boulliard is curator of the mineral collection of the UPMC, which was formerly the collection in the Sorbonne in France. The authentication certificates are available on the website listed above.

posted 08-15-2003 07:01 PM               

And it's a lot of money for a "could be".