An artisan living in Indonesia became a millionaire overnight. Indeed, a meteorite crashed in his garden and aroused the interest of an anonymous buyer wishing to repatriate the object to the United States. With the money raised, the young retiree wants to build a church in his country.
Everyone knows that "money doesn't fall from the sky", even Josua Hutagalung, an artisan coffin maker living in Indonesia. And yet, the latter became a millionaire totally by chance , as stated by CNN Indonesia on November 19, 2020 (see video at the end of the article). It all starts on August 1, 2020 while the person concerned works from home. Surprised by an increasingly intense muffled noise, the man goes outside. A meteorite has indeed just pierced the roof of his house and dug his garden over about fifteen centimeters.
After filming the 2 kg object and posted the images on social media, Josua Hutagalung wondered. Nevertheless, he was not the only one since the scientific community was also intrigued. In the end, an anonymous buyer wishing to bring the object to the United States commissioned an expert to go to Indonesia. After a period of negotiation, the expert left with the meteorite for the sum of 1.6 million dollars .
This incredible sum, especially in a country like Indonesia, allowed Josua Hutagalung to retire at only 33 years old . Very religious, the person concerned said he wanted to help build a church in his region. The man also said he has three sons and now wants to have a daughter. He therefore hopes that this recent event is a sign from heaven that will bring him this chance.
Regarding the meteorite, Josua Hutagalung was obviously very well informed, which allowed him to negotiate the sale price wonderfully. Before the anonymous buyer's expert arrived, a specialist told the Indonesian that the meteorite was a carbonaceous chondrite. Probably more than 4 million years old , this rock is very valuable for scientific research.
He is not the only one to have stumbled upon a remarkable meteorite, however. In July 2020, a man found the largest stony meteorite ever discovered in Germany. Weighing 30 kg, the object was discovered in 1989. Thus, the citizen did not pay attention for about thirty years before I had the idea to bring it to the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for analysis.
Here is the report from CNN Indonesia:
