It may sound strange, but a question has come up concerning what seems to be the largest recovered martian meteorite: Who owns it?
A recent 54-pound meteorite that has been confirmed left Mars and set down in the Nigerian desert in West Africa in 2023. Two years later, it was put up for auction at Sotheby’s, and was sold to an anonymous bidder for 5.3 million dollars. But, then, after the sale, the Nigerian government began an investigation as to whether Sotheby’s had violated the nation’s law safeguarding natural heritage.
The auction house paused the finalization of the sale to review the country’s concern. But, then, this summer federal agents seized the meteorite from the auction house, stating that whoever had brought it into the United States had done so without declaring it at customs.
At present, it’s unknown who owns it. According to the District of Columbia’s Attorney Jeanine Pirro, who spoke while leaning against the giant rock, the ownership is still in question, and, for now, “We own it.”
It appears that customs has no record of the meteorite entering our country, leading Attorney Pirro to determine it was caught up in a “corrupt deal.” Sotheby’s stated an anonymous seller had flown to the Nigerian desert, after learning about it from a meteorite hunter. How it was moved from Nigeria to the U.S. is still unknown, and would have been quite difficult.
Through an incredible set of circumstances, the auction house Christie’s originally was approached for the sale, but because of the unusual travel it had gone through, decided to decline, and Sotheby’s auctioned it instead; however, the federal government took it from the company, and still has control of the meteorite. As a possibility, it could try to repatriate the rock, or donate it to a museum; however, as of now, the government is in possession of the largest known martian meteorite that ever fell on Earth.
