Somewhere on a farm in Edmore, Michigan. A man has been using a rock as a doorstop for decades but now discovers it is worth $100,000.
The man’s story as far as this valuable meteorite is concerned began back in 1998 when he bought a farm from the former owner who was a farmer. When he was purchasing the property, the farmer had the ‘rock’ holding open the door of a shed. Struck by the strange appearance of the seeming rock substance he inquired more details about it.
The farmer (old owner) told him (the new owner) that the rock is part of a meteorite they dug out of the ground with his father. It fell from the skies in the 1930s. The farmer and his father saw the meteorite light up the night sky as it came down on their property. When it hit the ground, the meteorite made a big sound and left a small crater. The next morning, the farmer and his dad went out to the crash site and dug out the remains, and that is how they came to possess it.
However, as the rock was part of the property, the farmer told the new owner he could keep the rock if he wanted it. The farmer said the rock was part of the property the new owner was buying and could keep it if he wanted.
The current owner of the farm chosen to remain anonymous when the news reached out to the media. My guess would be because the old owner might come back to try claiming the now valuable rock, as it was the farm that was being transacted and not explicitly the rock.
The current owner also did not know the value of the rock, until January this year, when he had news of a meteorite falling in Michigan worth a lot. It was then that he decided to send his ‘rock’ to the Central Michigan University geology professor, Mona Sirbescu.
Sirbescu said the first time he saw the meteorite; he knew it was valuable. But he did his tests and confirmed his first impression of the rock. The meteorite is made up of 11.5% nickel and 88.5% perfect iron.
The meteorite weighs 22 pounds and is the sixth biggest find recorded in Michigan. It’s market value to reach up to $100,000.
“It’s the most valuable specimen I have ever held in my life, monetarily and scientifically,” said Sirbescu.
The Smithsonian and mineral museum in Maine is considering purchasing the meteorite. Should the sale go through, the Michigan man has pledged 10% of the sale to go towards the study and research done at the CMU. The rock is to be named Edmore meteorite.
