Terje Fjeldheim, a geologist who acknowledges that he “knows a bit about rocks,” was out fishing in the mountains of Setesdal, southern Norway, when he stumbled upon what’s believed to be a meteorite weighing four-and-a-half kilos. That would make it the largest meteorite found in Norway in the last 100 years.
“It was so different that it immediately started ringing some bells,” Fjeldheim told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) on Friday.
Fjeldheim’s discovery has sparked excitement among astrophysicists and Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard, Norway’s celebrity astronomer and meteorite expert, was “ecstatic,” according to Fjeldheim. Rune Selbekk of the Museum of Natural History in Oslo has only seen Fjeldheim’s photos so far, but said his “gut feeling” is good.
“I get around 2,000 to 3,000 samples every year,” Selbekk told NRK. “When something authentic comes in, it offsets all the disappointments.”
The last time a bigger meteorite was found in Norway was in the far northern city of Alta in 1902. Before that, Tysnes in 1884, reported NRK. Only a bit more than a dozen meteorites have been found in Norway, with one of the most recent ones crashing through the roof of a holiday cabin in Oslo just last year.
Fjeldheim was due to bring the meteorite in to the museum Friday afternoon and have it evaluated. It may be worth as much as NOK 225,000, should he decide to sell it.
newsinenglish.no staff
