Fragments of meteorite, which crashed into Yunnan Province, the southwest of China on June 1 have been found in a village of the province’s Menghai County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. Following the disclosure of the landing site, many locals are now embarking on meteorite hunting in the hope to making a quick fortune, reported by Yunnan.cn.
On June 1, local time 9:40 p.m., a meteorite streaked across the sky in the Yunnan Province as it appeared to illuminate the sky in the video footages filmed by a number of residents. Within the next day, videos of the meteorite pieces being spotted in a local village quickly surfaced online.
Jiang Wei, the vice director of the Meteorite Science Investigation Committee of the Chinese Scientific Expedition Association, and meteorite expert Zhao Baolin confirmed the location of the extraterrestrial object, Pengpai News reported.
Over 200 pieces of meteorite fragments have been found so far, with many spotted in the nearby crop fields ranging from the size of a ping pang ball to a few hundred grams. A few debris were also said to have struck through some local’s rooftops, according to Pengpai news.
Stock image of a meteorite./ VCG Photo
“Those pieces are very rare to find, given how intact its shell and shape had remained. The debris fell under the sky is challenging to find,” Zhang, the meteorite expert commented.
Since the landing location has been disclosed, numerous locals and various out-of-towners, approximately 70-80 people including meteor enthusiasts and research teams, are now joining forces on a scavenger hunt to search for the meteorite’s remains, Jiang at the scene told Pengpai News reporter. “It’s bustling here”, he added.
As the number of people joining the hunt grows, the hype for finding the scarce piece is soaring, for the high price it commands. Many reportedly offered to buy meteorite remains from the locals, as price varies from small to a very large amount.
Stock image of a meteorite up for sale in a flea market. /VCG Photo
“Two tiny pieces that weigh about 20 grams, were bought for 24,000 Yuan (about 16,565 US dollars),” Jiang told Yunnan.cn. reporter.
In addition, some new buyers are believed to be jacking up the price to 50,000 yuan(about 7,802 US dollars) per gram, according to a message released by the Menghai County government official, urging those caught in trading meteorite piece for high prices to stop.
As more fallen debris continues to be discovered from the ground, there is no general consensus as to who can legally claim to own these scarce pieces. While unidentified objects like meteorites are often found by the masses, according to China’s laws, the ownership of meteorites lies with the country since they are considered as "mineral resources."
