As a young boy, I loved to collect rocks. Stories of lost gold mines, buried jewels and priceless rubies whetted my appetite for rocks. Of course, the pebbles I collected were only pretty stones, smoothed by a distant stream, ending up in my grubby pocket. In my teens, I once visited the Natural History Museum in New York and was fascinated by the gem collection. World's Largest Crystal Ball, a replica of the Hope Diamond and an opal weighing over one hundred pounds all found their way into my dreams. A few years later I would choose Geology as my college major. In my twenties, while perusing the wares in a Government Surplus Store, I came across a three hundred watt ultraviolet spotlight with its high voltage transformer. Costing only five dollars, it prompted me to ask the owner of what use it could be. He told me that it was used to discover flaws in the manufacture of weapons but other than that, the only other use he could think of was to make visible certain fluorescent materials. I immediately thought of the mineral fluorite that glowed under ultra violet light. So I bought it. A visit to the local library turned up a beautiful book on fluorescent minerals with gorgeous pictures of mineral samples shining in pure rainbow colors under a UV lamp. Most of these rare minerals occurred in mines all over the world but one source of these collectible rocks was located only twenty miles from my house! The next day off found me happily wending my way to the town of Franklin, New Jersey. Seeing a sign near this tiny town advertising The Franklin Museum for Fluorescent Rocks, I screeched to a halt to get directions. I was led to a large Victorian home and greeted at the door by an old man. In his living room were several glass cases filled to the brim with grayish-looking dusty rocks, each one carefully labeled. The collector explained that the colors showed too pale in the daytime but if I would like to see the full effect, I was welcome to see the collection in his cellar. A flight of squeaky wooden steps opened up in a large, low-ceilinged room covered with shelved of the same gray rocks as upstairs. I still wasn't impressed. Then he turned on the ultraviolet tubes and turned off the regular white light. A fantasy of colors hit my eye. Every tone of orange from peach to tangerine, rich yellows, azure blues and intense reds shouted out from the walls in a melange of lacy patterns. As I crawled along examining each sample, the owner explained where each sample originated, how much it was worth and how rare. My head was spinning with the colorful images revealed by the invisible ultra violet light. I asked him if it were possible to find some specimens myself for my own collection. He told me of several ore tailings of nearby ancient mines that undoubtedly contained many good specimens for a collection, but they were too difficult to separate from the mass of useless rock. Immediately I thought of my powerful UV spotlight and how it would allow me to discover the precious samples with ease. The next weekend, I lugged the spotlight to the old mine and as luck would have it, a small, deserted shack was situated not far from the tailings. An old man came out and I told him of my quest. He understood right away and offered the use of his electricity for me to plug in my fifty foot extension cord. He recommended that I wait until dark to start. Later that night, I returned to the spot with the waiting good Samaritan. A hum filled the air as the spot light warmed up. Then, shining the invisible spotlight on the mountain of gray rock, a myriad of lights glowed like far-flung galaxies in the void of space. Climbing up the steep slope, I chose the brightest and most colorful of samples until I had more than I could carry. Like the hidden talents in ordinary people, my collection never failed to wow our science-inclined visitors at the amazing and eerie light emerging from plain, gray, ordinary-looking rocks. |
