Robert A. Haag (born 1956
) is an American famous for collecting
meteorite
A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...
s. Some meteorites acquired from Haag are currently on display in the Smithsonian.
Detainment
Haag was detained as a preventative measure pending judgement in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
charged with removing protected rocks (the 37 ton
El Chaco meteorite). Haag claimed he was set up by an Argentinian mineral dealer, who had asserted the meteorite belonged to the land owner and the dealer entered into an arrangement to broker the sale to Haag for $200,000. Haag was released from detainment and left Argentina after paying
bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countries ...
and having his passport returned.
Achievements
Haag was the first private citizen and meteorite hunter to discover a
Lunar meteorite
A lunar meteorite is a meteorite that is known to have originated on the Moon. A meteorite hitting the Moon is normally classified as a transient lunar phenomenon.
Discovery
In January 1982, John Schutt, leading an expedition in Antarctica fo ...
, known as
Calcalong Creek. It was discovered among other meteorites coming out of the Australian
Millbillillie meteorite (
eucrite
Eucrites are achondritic stony meteorites, many of which originate from the surface of the asteroid 4 Vesta and are part of the HED meteorite clan. They are the most common achondrite group with over 100 meteorites found.
Eucrites consist of ...
achondrite
An achondrite is a stony meteorite that does not contain chondrules. It consists of material similar to terrestrial basalts or plutonic rocks and has been differentiated and reprocessed to a lesser or greater degree due to melting and recrystalliz ...
)
strewn field
The term strewn field indicates the area where meteorites from a single fall are dispersed.
It is also often used for the area containing tektites produced by large meteorite impact.''Tektites in the geological record: showers of glass from the sky ...
. It was bought as a Millbillillie by Haag, but he discovered it was a lunar meteorite. He was also one of the first private citizens to obtain Martian meteorites.
He was featured in a story in
Omni Magazine
''Omni'' was a science and science fiction magazine published in its domestic American market as well as the UK. It contained articles on science, parapsychology, and short works of science fiction and fantasy. It was published as a print version ...
in July 1993.
See also
*
Glossary of meteoritics
This is a glossary of terms used in meteoritics, the science of meteorites.
#
* 2 Pallas – an asteroid from the asteroid belt and one of the likely parent bodies of the CR meteorites.
* 4 Vesta – second-largest asteroid in the asteroid b ...
References
External links
*
MeteoriteMan concept from the Meteorites knowledge base
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haag, Robert
1956 births
Living people
Collectors
Meteorite researchers