A couple of days ago I got my copy of the American Conchologist and in
there was Dance's article "A Shell from Mars" on the absolutely improbable
story of Chimaeria incomparabilis.  As discussed in Conch-L previously
this shell has an unworldly beauty, but seems to bring with it a dark
shadow detailed in the article.  The forklore of doom connected to the
Hope Diamond has nothing on this species.

Dance notes that since never directly encountered the shell he was
distanced (protected?) from its 'baleful influence'.  At the end of the
article Dance writes "I confess that I have been tempted to dispose of
this seemingly trivial piece of paper because of its former association "
and that he could "ill afford to take chances with a shell from Mars".

Looking at the photos a passing thought crossed my mind, I don't suppose
that there can be 'ill-forces' attached to this article, could there? It
must have been a prophecy.  That evening on the same day the article
arrived in our mailbox a catagory 2 torando blew through my neighborhood
in Indiana.  Our house was missed, but it took the roof off many of my
neighbors homes less than a block away (no injuries in our neighborhood,
at least).  If it had hit the home surely my collection, housed upsatirs,
would have been lost.  I took this all to mean that the toranado was some
kind of warning about associations with C. incomparabilis...

I showed the article to my non-sheller wife and she made it clear in no
uncertain terms, "You are NOT to bring that shell into the house"  (At
$20,000 the chances of that happening are pretty slim anyway).

Just a light-hearted side note to this story.

My deep sympathies to those who were truely impacted in connection to
these events.  Chimaeria incomparabilis now has a dark legend associated
with it that rivials the smashing of the second-known Conus gloriamaris at
auction to retain the orginal's uniqueness or the fabrication of Epitonium
scalare to defraud 18th century collectors.  Legends to add to shell-lore.

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