Recently, there is news regarding a 34-year-old man in North Sumatra who sold a particular meteorite that has smashed through his roof for the price of RM7.6 Million. Later, he felt so disappointed when he found out that he could have received in a total of 100 times compared to the sum he just received. This is because the discovered meteorite is actually worth more than that. Joshua Hutagalung who is the man that found the space rock honestly said that he felt so cheated after has sold the rock to the United States meteorite expert that is Jared Collins.
It is such devastating news for him because he sold the meteorite to Jared Collins for a much cheaper price than its true value. Other than that, he also refutes all the reports from foreign media that has labeled him as a sudden multimillionaire after making the sale. Joshua Hutagalung said, “I have spent all the RM7.6 Million I got from selling the meteorite to Collins on helping my family and orphans, building a church, and repairing my parents’ graves”. He does not use the money for his own advantages. That is why he does not like it when people called him a millionaire.
According to a statement, part of the meteorite that has been found had been put up for sale on eBay for around RM4100 per gram. Jared Collins then shipped the space rock to America, where it was bought by Jay Piatek who is a doctor and also meteorite collector from Indianapolis. Jared Collins said, “It was in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, and frankly, it was a toss-up between buying the rock for myself or working with scientists and collectors in the US”. He also added, “I carried as much money as I could muster and went to find Joshua, who turned out to be a canny negotiator”.
Joshua Hutagalung was very surprised to know that the price of the meteorite he had discovered could sell much more than he received now. He stated, “If that’s true, I’ve been lied to and I’m disappointed”. He also admitted that he had sold only 1.8 kilograms of the total 2.2 kg of the space rock. Joshua had divided the remaining with him and his family members and said he would not sell the stone despite its value. He also added, “Let it be a memento”.
Sources: The Jakarta Post.