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Nininger Moments Introduction
by Al Mitterling
 Through out the history of time there are rare individuals who
step forward to address something that no one else has wanted to, or
has had time and money to do. A unique individual who sees the
importance of something that is being overlooked and manages to put
the spotlight on that much needed area and provides the actions that
are necessary. Harvey Nininger was such a man, seeing the importance
of having a program of not only finding meteorites but knowing the
important clues they would yield on the study of not only our own
solar system but also other systems. At a time when the study of
meteorites was an extreme rarity among American education and
research institutions, Harvey sought answers to the many unknown
wonders they held such as fall dynamics and how common they were.
Attempts were made to generate funding for such a program by the
institutions of that day but a lack of belief that such a program
would ever yield any results, that finding new specimens would be so
rare to make such a program cost prohibited were a few of the walls
Harvey Nininger often ran into. Despite these barriers, Nininger
devised a way of generating his own program of hunting for new
specimens, paying for that program and making detailed notes. With
the help of his wife Addie and the support of his family, the
Nininger's generated this program that "wouldn't work" on their own.
Nininger brought to light over 222 previously unknown falls, that
added up to over 2,000 individual meteorites during this time frame
of hunting. Many other new falls were found as an indirect result of
his program to other institutions, collectors and scientists. A Dr.
Flecter Watson of Harvard once wrote in his book "Between The
Planets" Published in 1941 that Nininger was accounting for half of
all the discoveries in the world at that time!
The Nininger Moments were generated to pay tribute to the great man
of meteorites, who made extreme sacrifices, who inspired many people
to go out, hunt and find them, who continues to inspire people on
meteorites even in this modern era of hunting and collecting. A
number of the specimens that grace our collections these days are
from the Nininger era. Nininger set the standard for that day and
time and perhaps even this day and age. Harvey Nininger is the
father of American Meteoritics. The Nininger Moments are some of the
great moments and adventures that try to shed light on the long road
he traveled.
--AL Mitterling
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