Meteorite hunters jailed for trespassing

Ralph (Sonny) Clary Jr.

Two Southwestern meteorite hunters found fame they weren't searching for.

Just one week after Las Vegas meteorite hunter Ralph "Sonny" Clary Jr. was interviewed by WJBF news reporters in Augusta, he and Arizona hunter Michael William Miller were arrested for criminal trespass in Burke County.

According to officers, the pair was searching for debris from the big March 20 meteorite sighting when they zeroed in on a farm in the northern portion of the county ... without permission.

"They went from famous to infamous," one ranger said after the pair was carted off to jail.

The landowner called authorities Monday morning when she saw a strange Kia Rio parked on her property and suspected poachers. DNR rangers say they were thrown off by the red compact car, which is not popular among turkey hunters, but backed the landowner's suspicions when they saw camouflage clothing inside.

After an unproductive search in the nearby woods, the landowner had the Kia towed.

The landowner and meteorite hunters came face to face when they came out of the woods and found their car missing. They knocked on her door for help; she ordered them to stay put - then both parties began simultaneously calling the cops.

Michael Miller

Clary and Miller told officers they hadn't damaged anything and just wanted to pay the towing bill and be on their way. The landowner said the men were profiteering on her property without permission and that she wanted them prosecuted "to the fullest extent."

The suspects are scheduled to appear in state court this morning (Wednesday).

Would-be criminals should probably take heed. Last October the same homeowner, at age 66, held two burglars face-down in the dirt with her pistol while she waited for deputies to come arrest them.

SPACE BUCKS

Based on recent news articles

published in The Augusta

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chronicle, a find could have paid off big for Clary and Miller. With a number of meteorite hunters scouring Richmond and surrounding counties, an Atlanta businessman and collector has offered $20,000 for the first kilogram of meteorite debris left by the "epic event."