A PRECIOUS ROCK

About 80,000 years ago, an enormous mixture of iron and nickel entered the Earth's atmosphere. The original weight was 66 tons. As a result of erosion, scientific sampling and vandalism, its weight was reduced to approximately 60 tonnes. Today it is the largest metal meteorite ever found. His name was Hoba, known as Hoba West Farm, Namibia.

This meteorite was discovered by a farmer in 1920. Since then, because of its mass, it has never been moved. The meteorite and the discovery site were declared national monuments by the Namibian government.

The most perplexing thing about this meteorite is probably not that it belongs to a very rare class of meteorites, but that there is no crater around it. Normally, a meteorite this size would have to leave a crater hundreds of meters wide.

The best theory that explains the absence of a crater around the meteor is that this piece of rock must have struck the Earth's surface at a very close angle. The result, probably, is that it is "bounced" on the surface as one makes a flat stone on the water surface. And in the end, it must have stopped at the place where it is today. The economic value is out of proportion. Estimates run from $136 million to $3 billion! Not bad for a piece of rock!

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