A meteorite crashed near the border between the United States and Canada, in the state of Maine, Saturday, April 8. On this occasion, the Maine Museum of Geology said it was offering $ 25,000 (22,700 euros) to who will bring him a piece of the meteorite, reports CNN.
In the middle of the forest
On Saturday, shortly before noon local time, locals were able to see for four minutes a real fireball in the sky before hearing a detonation. According to calculations by NASA's Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) laboratory, the meteorite crashed near Calais, Maine, probably in the middle of a forest.
Darryl Pitt, head of the meteorite section of the Maine Museum of Geology, finding a meteorite fragment in this environment is not easy. The area is indeed quite sparsely populated, which could make the searches complex to orient.
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Find a piece of at least one kilo
The $25,000 reward is reserved for the explorer who brings back the first piece of meteorite weighing a kilo or more. According to Darryl Pitt, the meteorite can be recognized by its blackened outer face, its interior of a different color and by the potential presence of iron, which could make it possible to detect it thanks to a magnet.
The museum had already proposed a reward in 2016 to find a piece of a meteorite that had crashed in the region, without finally obtaining results. Despite this initial failure, Darryl Pitt is "relatively optimistic" that this new hunt will bear fruit, as there is more information available to explorers.
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