South Korean media outlets are abuzz this week with the news of the discovery of a possible meteorite, likening the rock to a jackpot worth millions of dollars.
Scientists on Tuesday told the national media the rock found a day earlier in provincial city of Jinju, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Seoul, is likely to be a meteorite, assuming it wasn’t placed there.
The condition of the surroundings, a vegetable farm on relatively flat land, meant the 9.5-kilogram (20.9-pound) rock was unlikely to have fallen from somewhere nearby, they said. They added that the rock’s surface had signs of burning, which takes place when an space object enters the atmosphere.
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On Wednesday, national media reported another rock half the size showed up just a few miles away from the original discovery site. These reports follow multiple sightings of a shooting star in Suwon, a suburb south of Seoul.
Following the initial reports of the first rock, the national media have begun speculating on its value, noting that very rare meteorites are sold for dozens of dollars per gram.
The space rock trade isn’t common in South Korea outside academic circles but collectors worldwide buy and sell meteorites.
Lee Jong-ik, a geologist at the Korea Polar Research Institute and lead researcher in the ongoing analysis, on Wednesday said it’s too early to give a precise estimate of the value of the rock, which depends on the rarity of its composition.
Heightened interest in the rock’s value is partly due to the Sochi Winter Olympics, where the organizers awarded medals containing a piece of a meteorite on Feb. 15. Athletes received the medals to commemorate a February 2013 asteroid explosion above the Russian province of Chelyabinsk Oblast.
The Chelyabinsk explosion is also known for producing the largest meteorite fragment on record, weighing about 650 kilograms and found in a lake in October in the Urals.
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