AL Mitterling of Mitterling Meteorites bio
I’ve been collecting and selling meteorites since the late 1980’s when there wasn’t an internet and communications were by mailing letters back and forth. Back when there was less than two dozen dealers. Much has happened since then both good and bad.
I started out in the business in order to offer some much needed competition as there was very little and to offer up specimens at a fair price which was lacking then. My first "catalogs" were carefully type up lists with a picture or two. Later I produced 20 to 28 page color catalogs sending them to several hundred customers for several years.
My successes are: getting hard to find historical and rare specimens to buyers who want them. Keeping detailed records of transactions with museums and sellers for authenticity. I also don’t exaggerate claims on my specimens but simply state the interesting facts.
I have been an author in Meteorite Magazine multiple times and have written about major collections in the United States. This including the ASU Collection that include a major portion of the Nininger Meteorite Collection. I am also author of the Nininger Moments.
I don’t consider myself a meteorite hunter but do go out and hunt when time permits each year. I have been successful in finding meteorites in known locations when hunting.
If you have comments or questions please contact me at: almitt2 *at* localnet.com
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 […]
In the 1920’s Harvey Nininger was a professor at McPherson College teaching biology but he also taught a course in geology. In the middle of August 1923 he had read an article in the Scientific Monthly by a professor A. M. Miller from the University of Kentucky on the subject of meteorites which intrigued him. […]
After the November 9th, 1923 fireball event that inspired Nininger, he set out learning as much as could be learned on the subject. He found at that time there was precious little information on the subject written where one could educate themselves on meteorites. He was able to obtain a copy of Farrington’s Catalog of […]
In the fall of 1929 Nininger began planning a trip to Mexico where he hoped to trade for meteorites that were in some institutions he heard of down there, as well as find a number of meteorites in a certain area he heard so much about. He made arrangements to take an extended leave from […]
Two nights before the Nininger party reached Mexico City while trying to set up camp, several unfriendly characters approached them. They managed to catch their interest with an article of little importance and swiftly packed up and drove on. They were in bandit country but continued on long after dark looking for some sort of […]
After hiring transportation to the village of Xiquipilco a dangerous trip over a very bad road took place for some three hours and a total of twelve and a half miles. Many wrecked vehicles were seen in route that failed to negotiate the winding road. At the time Nininger and Dr. Mulleried arrived at the […]
On a now deserted road where grass grows in the cracks of the now famous and former route 66, and just a few miles north of Meteor(ite) Crater there was once a building that housed the Nininger Meteorite collection. The building was chosen because of its location near the meteor crater. These days its location […]
After the arrival of the Nininger’s and their collection, came the task of setting up display cases for their museum, fixing up the rented building for the public, general cleaning up and painting to give a more professional look to the museum. The museum was without electrical power and was open as long as there […]
Back in the middle to late 1800’s as cowboys rode their horses across the prairie in what is now Kiowa County, they came across from time to time heavy black rocks scattered across the buffalo grass. There were no other such stones found else where so the black stones were a bit out of place. […]
Dr. Nininger was good at both presenting information on his numerous talks throughout central and western United States and also at hunting them. He would sometimes stop in at a local restaurant for a bite to eat and would lay meteorite specimens on the counter so as to generate interest that would sometimes uncover new […]
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