Main image via The Sun + The Independent
If you’ve ever made a wish on a shooting star and wished for a million dollars, you’re about to become super jealous that this man’s wish actually came true! In a way…
A man from Indonesia recently became a millionaire after a meteorite smashed into his home and yes, we’re super jealous too.
via GIPHY
Before you panic, we’re not talking about an Armageddon-sized meteorite, this space rock weighs around 2.1kg and is the size of a large rock.
Joshua Hutagalung from North Sumatra, Indonesia, found the steaming-hot meteorite just outside his home after it crashed through the roof of his house one afternoon.
According to Daily Mail, the meteorite turned out to be worth around $1.85 million (RM7.5 million)!
Image via The Sun
The 33-year-old coffin maker was working when the space rock landed by his home and sunk about 15cm deep into the soil.
“The sound was so loud that parts of the house were shaking too,” Joshua told Kompas. “And after I searched, I saw that the tin roof of the house had broken. When I lifted it, the stone was still warm.”
According to the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Texas, U.S., the space rock has been classified as CM1/2 carbonaceous Chrondrite and is an extremely rare variety.
The meteorite, given the official name KLONG, is estimated be around 4.5 billion years old. Experts hailed the space rock as one of the most significant meteorite finds ever, saying it could contain elements which give clues to the origins of life.
Due to its extreme rarity, the meteorite is worth around $847 (RM3,513) per gram making Joshua’s rock worth $1.85 million (RM7.5 million).
Image via Mothership
The 33-year-old was reluctant to sell KLONG – named after his village, at first and one of his sons even told him not to sell it. Joshua believed that it was a sign of good fortune for his family and village.
“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 said.
By mid-September however, the coffin maker decided to sell space rock to a specialist collector and the sale has given him enough money to retire and build a new church in his village.
US meteorite expert Jared Collins was dispatched from his home in Bali to secure the space rock for sale. He then sold KLONG to a US collector who is currently storing the meteorite at the Centre for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University.
If only a meteorite crashed into our homes… (safely of course).
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Info via The Sun