A man in Sweden won a legal battle to preserve a meteorite that fell on part of his land and was given to the Swedish Natural History Museum.
Everything was recorded on November 7, 2020, when this 14 kilogram stone was found by two geologists on a private property in the city of Enköping.
The discoverers of the rock, Andreas Forsberg and Anders Zetterqvist, donated the meteorite to the city museum.
Johan Benzelstierna von Engeström filed a lawsuit to claim ownership of the huge rock; But a court ruled in 2022 that the discoverers had the right to the stone because the meteorite had no owner.
Two years ago, Count Johan Benzelstierna von Engeström was sleeping on his sofa when a huge bolt of lightning lit up the night sky. A meteoroid stole from the sky and crashed into the 2,500 hectare land that belonged to the Von Engeström family…
— Times Earth (@Times__Earth) November 18, 2022
Johan didn’t give up and appealed the measure. After several years, a court agreed with him, finding that there were in fact no rules determining ownership of the space rock.
The dispute was resolved in a special way, as the ruling established that the meteorite becomes part of the property on which it falls.
In addition, he assures that this iron rock is created by “substances that are already present on the surface of the earth.”
Judge Robert Green said meteorites or space rocks “should be considered part of real estate like other rocks, even if they intuitively appear to be something alien to the earth.”
The court ruling states that the geologists should have reached an agreement with the property owners before removing the meteorite.
“It feels incredibly good. It is important to highlight the scientific value and I hope that this can increase interest in space and research, especially among younger generations,” said Johan.
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