The meteorite is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old and it is worth $1.8 million.
The odds were against this one, but apparently, life-altering things can fall from the sky. Josua Hutagalung, didn’t have to do anything, he just became a millionaire overnight, after a meteorite crashed through the roof of his house, valued at $1.8 million.
Jousa Hutagalunga, 33, the coffin maker was in the middle of furnishing someone’s coffin when the cosmic rock smashed through the veranda at the edge of his living room in Kolang, North Sumatran home, leaving a small hole in the tin roof and burrowing six inches beneath the house.
Meteorites are priced by the gram, the cheapest pure rock varieties fetching $0.50 to $5.00 per gram, and those who have rare extraterrestrial metal goes up to $1,000 per gram.
“When I lifted it, the stone was warm,” Josua told Gulf news, and “The sound was so loud that parts of the house were shaking too and after I searched, I saw that the tin roof of the house was broken too.”
Local residents in the area also heard the large booming sound of meteorite falling, and ever since that incident, dozens have visited Jousa’s house to see the rare object. ‘Many people have come, out of curiosity, and wanted to see the stone,’ he said.
Josua went on Facebook after the crash and wrote, “Suddenly, a black rock fell from the sky. Surprised me But whatever it is, hopefully, a good sign for our family”
He further added, “I strongly suspect that this rock is indeed an object from the sky that many people call a meteorite Because it is impossible someone deliberately threw it or dropped it from above. I have also always wanted a daughter, and I hope this is a sign that I will be lucky enough now to have one,” he told The Sun.
Josua was unaware of the fact that how valuable the rock is, but the father of three hopes that he would some of the money to build a church in his community.
The rock Josua found was estimated to be 4.5 billion years old which makes it one of the most significant meteorites to date. The rock is priced so high that even a U.S.-based meteorite expert Jared Colling was notified of the incident halfway around the world.
“My phone lit up with crazy offers for me to jump on a plane and buy the meteorite, Jared recalled. “I carried as much money as I could muster and want to find Josua who turned out to be a canny negotiator.”
Jared shipped the meteorite back to the United States, where it was purchased by an Indianapolis doctor, and the meteorite collected Jay Piatek.
The meteorite was identified is classified as CM1/2 Carbonaceous Chondrite, it is an extremely rare variety – worth around $1.85 million, or $857 per gram. The interior of the meteor is dark gray and black with small light colored speckles.
The Head of the National Aeronautics and Space Agency in Lapan, Indonesia, Thomas Djamaluddin said that it was a rare phenomenon for the meteorite to fall in a residential area.
Reportedly, three more fragments were found in the area nearby Josua’s house, which is why it was officially named Kolang, Jousa’s village’s name One was discovered in a paddy field less than three kilometers from Josua’s home.
“The amount of waste rock from the formation of the solar system is very large in space. Most of the meteorites fall in locations far from settlements, such as oceans, forests or deserts.”
With the sudden burst of money, Josua can now finally afford to follow through with his dream of building a church.
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