A meteorite used as a gate for decades worth $ 100,000

From door stop to show. This is the story of the riches of a space rock.

A man from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who wishes to remain anonymous, bought a farm near Edmore, Michigan, in 1988. It was accompanied by a strange stone used to open the door of a hangar. The previous owner told him that it was a meteorite that had landed on the property in the 1930s.

When the new owner moved out after a few years, he took away the boulder and continued to use it as a bumper. Decades later, he decided to have the rock checked after reading stories about a fireball from one. meteorite that erupted over the Midwest in January.

It's here that geologist Mona Sirbescu of Central Michigan University of Mount Pleasant goes into history.

"I could say right away that it was something special," Sirbescu said Wednesday in a statement.

The meteorite, which is about the size of a cantaloupe, weighs more than 10 kilograms. According to the university, it is the sixth largest meteorite in Michigan.

Sirbescu estimates it worth $ 100,000 (£ 76,400, AU 141,600).

An examination revealed that the rock is an iron-nickel meteorite composed mainly of iron with 12% nickel. A scientist from the Smithsonian Institution confirmed the analysis. The Smithsonian plans to buy the meteorite. A museum in Maine is also interested.

Central Michigan University stated that the owner of the meteorite was committed to donate 10% of the proceeds from the sale to the Earth Sciences and Atmospheric Sciences student funding, which who would technically make it a school.