A man in Indonesia became an instant millionaire after a $1.8 million meteor crashed through his house's roof.
Josua Hutagalung's home in Kolang, North Sumatra, was hit by a 2.1kg space rock, estimated to be around 4.5 billion years old.
The Metro reports it is a rare CM1/2 carbonaceous chondrite meteor valued at an incredible amount. Therefore, Josua was reportedly given the equivalent of 30 years' salary for the rock.
"When I lifted it, the stone was still warm and I brought it into the house. 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 had broken," he narrated.
Josua 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."
Josua has secured sufficient funds to construct a church in his local community and secure early retirement thanks to the prize money.
"I was working on a coffin near the street in front of my house when I heard a booming sound that made my house shake. It was as if a tree had fallen on us," he described the meteor-dropping sound.
"It was too hot to pick up so my wife dug it out with a hoe and we took it inside."
Josua sold part of the rock to Jared Collin, a US meteorite expert, who said at the time of his purchase: "My phone lit up with crazy offers for me to jump on a plane and buy the meteorite. It was in the middle of the Covid crisis and frankly, it was a toss-up between buying the rock for myself or working with scientists and collectors in the US."
"I carried as much money as I could muster and went to find Josua, who turned out to be a canny negotiator," Jared added.
Watching the video below:
