By Tim Binnall
An Indonesian man is likely set for life after a rather sizeable meteorite worth well over a million dollars plummeted from the sky and crashed through the roof of his house. The incredibly fortuitous turn of events reportedly occurred back in early August when Josua Hutagalung was working outside of his home in the community of Kolang and heard a monstrous boom that shook the village. When he returned to his home, the man was stunned to find that a four-and-a-half pound rock had punched a huge hole in an overhanging portion of his roof and became buried approximately six inches in the dirt outside the residence.
Unearthing the curious object from the ground, Hutagalung recalled at the time, "the stone was still warm" and, based on the manner in which it had arrived, he was certain that it had come from space since "it is impossible someone deliberately threw it or dropped it from above." Posting pictures of the mystery rock on Facebook, he mused that "whatever it is, hopefully it's a good sign for our family." Hutagalung's wishful thinking proved to be rather prescient following an examination of the stone by experts, who determined that it was, indeed, a highly valuable meteorite.
Specifically, the 4.8 billion-year-old rock is a highly sought-after form of meteorite known as a 'CM1/2 carbonaceous Chondrite.' By virtue of its sheer size, the stone was determined to be worth a whopping $1.8 million, which is around 30 times Hutagalung's annual salary as a coffin maker. Interest in the meteorite from experts around the world was such that he was able to quickly cash in on his interstellar lottery ticket by selling portions of the rock to two different collectors. Hutagalung plans to put his windfall to good use by using some of the money to build a new church in his village.