Mars meteorite sells at auction for $5.3 millionThe largest Mars meteorite found so far on Earth sold yesterday at auction for $5.3 million, a million dollars more than expected.
The 54-pound (25-kilogram) rock named NWA 16788 was discovered in the Sahara Desert in Niger by a meteorite hunter in November 2023, after having been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike and traveling 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) to Earth, according to Sotheby’s. The estimated sale price before the auction was $2 million to $4 million.
The identity of the buyer was not immediately disclosed. The final bid was $4.3 million. Adding various fees and costs, the official bid price was about $5.3 million.
Most Mars’ meteorites found on Earth are scooped up in Antarctica as part of government funded research. Thus, they are not available for sale. This rock was found by a private meteorite hunter, who then owned the rock free and clear and could do with it as he or she liked. It appears the hunting paid off handsomely.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The largest Mars meteorite found so far on Earth sold yesterday at auction for $5.3 million, a million dollars more than expected.
The 54-pound (25-kilogram) rock named NWA 16788 was discovered in the Sahara Desert in Niger by a meteorite hunter in November 2023, after having been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike and traveling 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) to Earth, according to Sotheby’s. The estimated sale price before the auction was $2 million to $4 million.
The identity of the buyer was not immediately disclosed. The final bid was $4.3 million. Adding various fees and costs, the official bid price was about $5.3 million.
Most Mars’ meteorites found on Earth are scooped up in Antarctica as part of government funded research. Thus, they are not available for sale. This rock was found by a private meteorite hunter, who then owned the rock free and clear and could do with it as he or she liked. It appears the hunting paid off handsomely.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Didn’t John Fogerty write a song about a situation like this?
I will probably regret even asking a question, but does US law allow that a meteorite belongs to the landowner of the land it lands on?
Here in Europe there is a push for the relevant government to stake claim, apparently because said meteorite has scientific value.
Just to clarify my position… If it lands on my property, unless it is part of a government investigation ( I’m thinking lumps of space shuttle) then it’s mine, and the government can do one. I own several small whole and slices of meteorites, I am happy to own them and was happy to pay for them, but they are from south America and the middle east.
As an aside, I have a half formed plan to go metal detecting around the moraines here in Sweden… There must be many metallic meteorites gathered up by the long gone glaciers… It would be super cool to find one myself… And shhhhhhh… Don’t tell the government!
Lee S: You got it backwards. The Constitution, the supreme law of the land, is what is called a “negative document.” It outlines the few rights and powers of the federal government that the citizens have reluctantly given it, and then notes in two amendments that all other power belongs to exclusively to those sovereign citizens, or to the nation’s states.
In other words, the federal government doesn’t “allow” us to keep meteorites that land on our property, the Constitution forbids the federal government from having any say on the matter. It is yours, period.
This approach was faithfully followed in the U.S. pretty much until WWII. Much of the political turmoil you see today is an effort to reclaim these sovereign rights back from that over-reaching national government.
State governments have more freedom to limit the citizens’ rights, but most also have state constitutions that limit their powers as well. Nonetheless, it is possible that some states have placed ownership limits on meteorites, but if they have I am unaware. As far as I know, any meteorite that lands on private property belongs to the land owner.
” And shhhhhhh… Don’t tell the government!”
Living in fear is the signature of the more authoritarian / Socialist modeled forms of government.
It applies to America as it applies to all other forms of government, it is just a matter of the degree of creeping or institutional bureaucracy and control that determines the degree of fear.
@ Bob…. I didn’t get anything backwards… I was just enquiring how it works over there. Why is it every time I express an interest in the legal process in the US I get a snarky answer?
@Cotour… I absolutely do not live in fear of anything or anyone. I enjoy the democracy I live in… My life is pretty bloody good… I can pay my rent, my utility bills, put food on the table, afford a trip abroad a couple of times a year… My kids do not go without and are getting a damn good education without plunging into eye watering debt… I can honestly say I am happy.
Now if I may say so… You and Edward seem to have some kind of venom against folk with my outlook/politics…. You enjoy making degrading comments about pretty much everything I post… Enjoy pontificating about how stupid/nieve/misled I am… I don’t really understand that attitude… I try and inject some humor into my posts, because at the end of the day… These are just words that will fade away… A smile is worth more. As I said to Edward… Play some ABBA… Have a dance and you will have 1 thing to thank Sweden for!
Lee S: There you go again, taking things personally and emotionally. When I said you got it backwards, I was simply describing your misunderstanding of American basic constitutional law (a mistake a large percentage of Americans even get wrong).
And you did get it backwards, by your own words. You asked if the government “allowed” Americans to keep meteorites that land on their property. That language implies that the government determines our rights.
Basic American law is the reverse. We determine the rights of the government, not the other way around. The 9th and 10th amendments to the Constitution expressly reserve all rights to the people or the states that were not specified in the Constitution itself. The federal government thus has no right to say anything in this matter. The states have some ability to regulate here, but even that is supposed to be limited. The rights always begin with the people, and can only be limited if they agree by election.
I was simply trying to make you understand this very basic fact, a fact that even now almost no other nation in the world follows. You would be well served to learn it, because it will help you enormously in understanding the background to the political fights in the U.S.
As Edward noted, you always react this way. If you had actually read my comment you would have understood better what I meant when I said you got it backwards. Instead, you saw that word and reacted, and thus stopped reading.
Lee S: Note also I was not being snarky, only accurate.
LeeS:
You just love the attention.
LeeS:
Are you aware of what is going on in the UK?
https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/17/uk/uk-voting-age-lowers-16-intl
“Remember back to when you were 16 years old and how qualified you were to decide the direction of your government, country and the world?”
https://www.sigma3ioc.com/post/not-in-america-yet-they-are-still-working-on-it
I am a big proponent of salvor’s rights.
I am still angry about what the FBI did over Sue the T-Rex.
All those who harmed Larson should burn in torment
Lee S,
You wrote: “Here in Europe there is a push for the relevant government to stake claim, apparently because said meteorite has scientific value.”
The point is that if such a push happened at the U.S. level, then it would be an unconstitutional push on the part of the federal government. The states could make an argument that it was within their own purview, but there could be an argument that the states cannot make such a law, either.
The Ninth Amendment is clear that just because some rights of We the People are specifically listed, that does not mean that these are all there are. The Tenth Amendment is clear that the federal government (the United States) has only those rights listed in the Constitution, and that all other rights belong either to We the People or to the states, depending upon whether they are governmental rights or human rights.
We the People of the United States have the right to do, say, be, own, wear, or think anything that is not forbidden, and the list of forbidden things is small, limited to preserving everyone’s rights. The individual states have a little more ability to forbid things, but not much. This is what freedom looks like. This is the American way.
The intention of the Statue of Liberty was to cast a metaphorical beacon of light to the rest of the world, recommending to do it like the United States, but instead some idiot attached a stupid poem about everyone coming here for freedom and liberty rather than insist that they be free and liberated at home. Thus, even the free world isn’t as free as it should be.
The way that you phrased your question comes from your government(s) doing it the other way around. All the rights reside within government, and they choose what rights their people have. The wording of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights is written in the same way, that the UN is declaring what rights the people of the world have, and even then, Article 29, clause 3 allows the UN to take away any right that it thinks is inconvenient to the UN.
Lee–
“I will probably regret even asking a question, but does US law allow that a meteorite belongs to the landowner of the land it lands on?”
Finding Meteorites for Fun & Profit in the United States:
It is completely legal to buy, sell, or own Meteorites in the United States.
If you find a specimen in the wild, ownership is determined by the specific land laws governing where the object was found.
In the United States this concerns Private, Federal, State, County, or Municipal land.
–The law for meteorites found on private property is well-established in the United States.
Courts treat meteorites as part of the land, meaning they belong to the owner of the property where they are discovered. This legal principle is known as accession, where the property owner is entitled to all that their land produces. If you find a meteorite on your own property, you are the legal owner. If you find one on your neighbor’s land, you need permission to remove it.
–This precedent was established in the 1892 case, Goddard v. Winchell. (Ref: disputed ownership of a 66-pound meteorite embedded three feet deep in the soil of an Iowa farm.)
–Meteorites discovered on federal land are considered “public property subject to federal regulations,” and the “finders’ keepers” principle does not apply.
-Collection is governed by the specific agency that manages the land where the meteorite fell, such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or the U.S. Forest Service, which treat meteorites as “natural resources.”
–Collection rules vary by agency and location. Some agencies may allow for the “casual collection” of small quantities for personal use without a permit. Finders must consult the specific land use plan for the area before removing any object.
A specific permit is required for any scientific or commercial collection from Federal lands.
–Meteorites discovered on Municipal, County, or State lands are subject to a variety of rules that generally mimic existing Federal or State rules.
https://www.meteoritemen.com/
Very interesting show.
Exactly how can they tell if that rock came from Mars and not some other planetary body? Whats the mars logo and were do they put it.
Ok guys… I think our disagreement comes down to semantics… And I certainly see why you approach my question from the same direction but at a different angle from mine…. If I had asked “does the landowner where a meteorite lands have the power to tell the government to go away” I’m guessing I would have had different answers… However, in my viewpoint the 2 questions are interchangeable. It is not worth getting deep into the weeds over a question which could have been answered in a paragraph if I had phrased it differently. I honestly don’t get all emotional or butt hurt from the scattergun response I get from most of my questions… But I do get frustrated that my simplest of questions can never be answered with a simple answer….
Thank you wayne for actually supplying the information I am interested in without lecturing me.
If I dare ask a question, and I’m genuinely not interested in how you feel the question reflects on me or my politics…
In the UK, If metal detecting you find silver or gold from before 1700 ( I think ), or a collection of “historical interest” , you are legally bound to report the find to the authorities. They will then judge if the find is classed as “treasure”… If not, then the finder is free to keep … If classed as “treasure” then the finder gets reimbursed for the market price and the find gets distributed to relevant museums.
The not legally binding, but common law set in stone is the finder and landowner split everything 50/50.
Given you guys have very little ancient metal to find… Do you have any similar rules… Even if only common law?
I have zero interest in discussing UK voting age, any amendments you might or might not have , or the average flying speed of the African swallow… I am just interested in how your laws work in practice.
Semantics?
Naaaah!
Lee S: You claiming the difference between “the government gives the people rights” vs “the people give the government rights” is merely “semantics” once again makes you look like you are refusing to learn anything.
That you you also say “If I had asked ‘does the landowner where a meteorite lands have the power to tell the government to go away’ I’m guessing I would have had different answers” also suggests you haven’t learned anything.
The fact is, American landiowners have expressly the right to tell the government to go away. No government official has any right to step on anyone’s property without permission. More significant, without a warrant — issued by judge only if there is probably cause of a crime — that official is forbidden to do any search for any reason. If he or she comes to the door asking entrance, you can quite bluntly tell him or her to “Go away!”, and they have to.
Once again, the rights belong to the citizen, and were handed out to the government in a very limited manner.
Lee S,
You wrote: “In the UK, If metal detecting you find silver or gold from before 1700 ( I think ), or a collection of “historical interest” , you are legally bound to report the find to the authorities. They will then judge if the find is classed as “treasure”… If not, then the finder is free to keep … If classed as “treasure” then the finder gets reimbursed for the market price and the find gets distributed to relevant museums.”
This is exactly why we answered in the way we did. You have been raised to think of government in exactly this way, and we have been raised to think of government as our employee or our possession. Government works for us, not the other way around.
“But I do get frustrated that my simplest of questions can never be answered with a simple answer.”
and
“I am just interested in how your laws work in practice.”
Well, there’s your problem. You think that questions about law are simple, but they are not. Law students spend three years learning how to learn about the law, and a few important laws are learned along the way.
So, when we give you a few paragraphs about how our laws have been structured and why, we are giving a very abbreviated version of the basic understanding that we American civilians learn. It is a fundamental difference between America and the rest of the world. The world thinks it is emulating the Freedoms and Liberties of the U.S., but the truth is that the rest of the world lets its governments control their rights, even the most basic and fundamental rights.
Robert wrote: “No government official has any right to step on anyone’s property without permission.”
We Americans watch British movies, and we are appalled at what the police get away with doing. If they did similar things here in the United States, the police would lose their right to present much evidence in court.
I recently watched the Hitchcock movie Dial M for Murder. If John Williams’s police officer character had done those things in the U.S., nobody would have gone to jail, because he had spoiled all of the important evidence.
As the left told us decades ago, he who controls the language controls the way the people think, and that controls the society. The way a question is asked tells much about how the questioner thinks.
”…he who controls the language controls the way the people think…”
With that in mind, I’m going to quibble with this:
”You claiming the difference between ‘the government gives the people rights’ vs ‘the people give the government rights’ is merely ‘semantics’ once again makes you look like you are refusing to learn anything.”
Rights belong to the people and always remain with them. Thus, government cannot have rights. What the people grant to the government are not rights but *authority*. The people grant government the authority to perform certain tasks such as collecting taxes and apprehending criminals, but that authority can be withdrawn at any time.
Some say that that’s a semantic argument, but I find that it helps in remembering just who is sovereign in interactions between the government and the people.
mkent: Quibble accepted, whole-heartedly.
You will note that you are restating the American philosophy that both Edward and myself have been trying to convey to Lee S. I wonder if he will finally get it.
mkent,
You wrote: “Rights belong to the people and always remain with them. Thus, government cannot have rights. What the people grant to the government are not rights but *authority*.”
What a good catch. The Tenth Amendment is not We the People granting government rights but granting it power:
We retain all the rights but dole out power.
Lee-
A “treasure trove,” (on physical land) as you describe (obviously old coins/silver/ gold, etc.) does have a legal definition, which varies by State, but is generally considered “placed at unknown time by unknown people,” and differentiates between Property that was lost or mislaid, or “abandoned” which has its own definition.
As a general rule– classic “treasure” in the ordinary sense of the Word, found on your private land is legally yours, similar to meteorites. (Depending on the wackiness of the State in which you reside.)
And…. the IRS will want to Tax you on the value of anything you find & sell, so act accordingly.
pzatchok– Meteorite Men…
great find! I’m going to watch those!
Jeff–
“Salvors rights,” based on Maritime law covering the “ocean,” different animal than finding stuff on your own private dry land.
In the United States and especially the Great Lakes area; found Stuff in “water” is regulated under dozens of laws including the Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1988 and the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004.
Michigan History with Alexis:
“The Meteorite That Buried Michigan”
The Sudbury Ontario Impact
Alexis Dahl (2021)
https://youtu.be/ycQexghR61w
18:43
Cyrano Jones
Licensed Asteroid Locator & Prospector
https://youtu.be/xGRkdMMi73U
3:05