Asteroid Strikes Tiny Southeast KY Community!

The majority of the debris or rubble showered upon a small portion of the Breathitt County Kentucky mountain top area known locally as the “Old Press Howard Fork Strip Job” and to a lesser extent onto the tiny community commonly called “Georgetown” that’s situated on the north bank of the South Fork of Quicksand Creek’s edge near the confluence of Stacy Br.  The broken pieces, many as large as soft balls, were scattered over a half mile oval area that was apparently the handiwork of the sonic explosion which shattered windows in houses, small businesses, and the Rousseau Elementary School located miles away, three nights past during a violent thunderstorm. 

It was of great fortune that the vast majority of the flying debris struck sparsely populated areas. The heaviest hit areas included a tiny portion of the large, reclaimed coal mine site along the mountain tops and to a lesser extent the wooded area leading down to the little community called “Georgetown” where two mobile homes were nearly destroyed: killing one sixty-nine (69) year old retired male coal truck driver and slightly injuring two teens, one female and one male.

Not a single fragment of the rubble from the exploded meteoroid has yet been found lying upon the surface of the affected area, which, according to University of Kentucky geologist, Dr. Phillip J Fishdom, (coincidentally, a brother to FakeNews’ Investigative Reporter, Sir Thomas Fishdom), is quite normal, since the exploding debris / rubble likely impacted the earth’s surface exceeding that of a speeding bullet; a velocity surpassing 2,500 feet per second or more than 1,700 miles per hour.  

None-the-less, the “impacted area” (Dr Fishdom’s terms) is now totally void of the thick grass cover crop that once blanketed all of the previously reclaimed strip mined area.  Fortunately, the small herd of cattle that often grazed upon the impact site, was located in the “far pasture” at the time of the exploding meteoroid’s impact.  

If you haven’t already guessed, such events are somewhat uncommon, but not particularly rare, in that, since 2005, an average of 30 exploding meteoroid’s have afflicted our small planet each year.

Initially, the most unusual aspect of the “South Fork of Breathitt County event” was thought to be the extreme close proximity (1/4 mile) to the Earth’s surface when the meteoroid exploded.

Normally, the average exploding meteoroid occurs 16 miles or more above the Earth’s surface.

That was the rarity, at least, until Breathitt County Sheriff, Billy Joe Clemons, a surface owner of a small triangle shaped section of the effected reclaimed area, entered his property. Upon entry, Clemons was “driving” an “ancient” John Deere Tractor Backhoe; with which he proceeded to dig a six-foot square hole into an apparent random spot which soon revealed dozens of golf ball to softball sized meteorites.  This act was completed in the presence of various news reporters and UK geologist, Dr. Phillip J Fishdom, who volunteered to have several of the smaller pieces of the debris evaluated / analyzed by an unnamed Lexington, Kentucky mineral laboratory.    

The laboratory results, in a word, were astounding!  Each piece of debris tested, revealed an estimated gold ore density of 94.1 grams per ton!   So, what does 94.1 grams per ton in gold ore density mean?   Well, Gold deposits are most often categorized by the average proportion of gold contained in the ore at the site; also known as the “ore grade”.  In short, the higher the grade density, the lower the cost will be for extracting Pure Gold (99.9% Gold is considered Pure Gold and or 24 karat [24K] Gold) . . .

Still not impressed.  Then consider these hard facts in comparison:

First, the World Gold Council defines a “high-quality” Below-ground mine as having a gold ore density between 8 and 10 g/t (grams per ton), and a low-quality mine as having a gold ore density of 1 to 4 grams per ton (1 gram = 0.035274 ounce). Again, Gold purity is often measured in karats and 24K Gold signifies 99.9% purity—the highest you can buy. On the other hand, gold jewelry stamped 14K is approximately 58% pure gold.

Second, the highest-grade gold mine currently on planet Earth is the “Fire Creek” mine located in Lander County, Nevada. The Fire Creek Mine once had a gold ore density of 44.1 g/t compared to Breathitt County’s 94.1 grams per ton   Last year the Fire Creek operation produced 32,887 ounces of pure gold.

Third, it is predominately believed that Gold reached Earth some 200 million years after the formation of the planet when meteorites containing gold and other metals bombarded its surface; some four billion years ago! 

The only similar circumstance of gold deposits being so near the surface, that comes to mind, has to be the gold that was accidentally discovered in September of 1898 on the sandy beach of Nome, Alaska . . . That unlikely find covered a twelve-mile stretch. However, the gold deposits were typically “no larger than bird shot” but were found beneath two to three feet of sand. 

Comparatively, the Nome Nuggets averaged 87.9 grams per ton in gold ore density, yielding 20.5K to 22K in purity.

One might think such an event would be a “fairy tale story” come true for the half dozen property owners directly affected by such an extraordinary event. But, not necessarily so, especially in the coal fields of Southeast Kentucky. You see, during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the process of buying or “severing” the mineral ownership from the surface estate was once very common.  The intended target was typically coal or perhaps the natural gas contained below the surface of the property.  However, in most instances, particularly in the very early days of the “program”, broad terms were used to describe the mineral estate being severed and or purchased. Hence the descriptive terms “Broad Form Deed” is often used in describing such transactions — meaning all minerals found!

In any event, the mineral estate of the property that was bombarded by the meteoroid that exploded just days ago, resulting in tons of high-density gold ore being buried below the surface of the property was purchased by a single mineral company way back in 1902!   And yes, the mineral severance deed “language style” was in “classic” Broad Form Deed “speak”! 

An injunction was filed yesterday afternoon by the aforementioned mineral company in the local Breathitt County Circuit Court, demanding that the surface owners NOT further remove, for any purpose, the high-density gold ore from the subject property.  The mineral company, asserting an obvious conflict of interest, has “by-passed” the local Sheriff’s office by “contracting” more than two hundred Security Guards, all in the employ of ACNE Security, a Louisville, KY LLC, to establish an “armed parameter” along the outer edge of the “impacted” area! 

In response, Sheriff Clemons has officially notified ACME and the local Circuit Court that his department will consider the Security Guards to be criminal trespassers and resistance to and arrest for such an act by one or more members of the Breathitt County Deputy Sheriff’s Department will justify deadly force; and yes, to be clear, that means deadly force, by the Sheriff’s deputies!  ACME has yet to publicly respond.  

FakeNews sought out Breathitt Commonwealth Attorney JB “John Boy” Warrix for his thoughts regarding the outcome of the dilemma. Warrix, would only say that “a quick settlement between the property owners and the mineral company was unlikely and that a similar “battle” was fought over the vast coal reserve in the area years ago; a fight the surface owners lost”! 

However, Warrix did offer a glimmer of hope for the surface owners when he noted that in his view, though the Mineral Company bought all the mineral products lying below the surface of the subject property, it could only include the Minerals that were in-place at the time of the acquisition — which in this case was 1902.