El Pasoan still searching for mystery rocks' origin

The El Paso Times ^ | 1/30/05 | Erica Molina

[hispanarepublicana]

Guess what? You can tell Lauralee that we really do sell rocks to each other.

[BenLurkin]

Antediluvian artifacts?

[investigateworld]

LOL !!!

[patton]

LOLOL. She won't believe it.

[yer gonna put yer eye out]

Cracker Jacks prizes?...:0)

[SolutionsOnly]

I think I've seen them before at a Souvenir ship in Missouri. :-)

[Raycpa]

Looks like some sort of shell to me even before reading it was made of silica.

[ElkGroveDan]

If you have a similar rock or would like more information, call Stanton James at 755-0763.

I have one of these. I was forced to pay 100 quatloos and give up my Orion slave girl to an Andorian trader. It was well worth it though. I spend many long nights shining a flashlight through it. It gives me a lot more pleasure than that Orion slave girl ever did (on Orion they have PMS for three weeks out of every month).

[AF68]

I got some fried mushrooms just like those once at Ponderosa.

[curmudgeonII]

Five bucks for that?
This guy is a few french fries short of a complete Happy Meal*.

[Bernard Marx]

I'm sure they are pseudomorphs of some sort of marine mollusk like clams, etc. Psuedomorph = false form. That means the once-living creature has been completely replaced by another material (in this case silica) and all that remains is the outward appearance of the critter.

These objects are sometimes called "casts" because the process works just like lost wax casting for jewelry or other objects using minerals instead of metals.

A tiny amount of uranium salts probably explain the fluorescence under ultraviolet light. Tiny and harmless amounts of uranium are commonly found in many rocks and minerals. The fact the objects keep on glowing for a time after the ultraviolet is turned off is called phosphorescence. It too is common in many rocks and minerals.

What the man has are fossils, just like much petrified wood is fossilized by the process of total replacement resulting in a false form of wood.

[Strategerist]

Hmm. Some sort of Tektite I'd think (Melted Rock expelled from an asteroid impact that hardens in flight before hitting the ground again.)

[tet68]

Looks to me like they are made out of Silica.

[Dutch Boy]

This is relatively close to White Sands and yards from the northern part of Ft Bliss. An area somewhat between Dona Ana and McGregor Ranges. Could this be leftovers from early nuke testing or a century of massive conventional weapons? I'm thinking something like fused sand clumps.

[tet68]

Dang I just read the article. I was RIGHT!

[Joe 6-pack]

[JoeGar]

Years ago, Parade Magazine ran an article, with photos, that showed a geode with what appeared to be a sparkplug imbedded in it. Has anyone ever heard any more about it?

[Andyman]

That was a Chevy Geo that had a spark plug in it.

[Born to Conserve]

Looks a lot like flint.