MYSTERY WIRE — A 33-year-old Indonesian became an multi-millionaire after a meteorite crashed through part of his roof and lodged itself in his garden.
According to several reports around Britain and Australia along with local news outlets, the home belongs to Josua Hutagalung. He is a coffin maker and works near his home in North Sumatra.
“I was working on a coffin near the street in front of my house when I heard a booming sound that made my house shake. It was as if a tree had fallen on us,” he told local publication Kompas. “When I lifted it, the stone was still warm and I brought it into the house.”
Josua Hutagalung was at home when the football-sized meteorite smashed through his roof. (Photo: EAST NEWS PRESS AGENCY)
He didn’t keep his discovery to himself, he quickly posted pictures on Facebook.
According to The Sun, experts say the meteorite is around 4.5 billion-years-old. It’s also extremely valuable.
Fragments of the meteorite secured by a second collector are currently on sale on eBay for pound sterling 757 a gram, valuing the 1.839g ‘hammerstone’ – as the main rock is called – at nearly $1.8 million.
The Sun
Collins shipped the space rock to America, where it was bought by an American collector who has it stored in liquid nitrogen at the Centre for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University.
The meteorite is classified as CM1/2 carbonaceous Chondrite, an extremely rare variety which scientists believe contains unique amino acids and other primordial elements necessary for the sparking of life itself.
