Farmer Donates $250k Meteor Fragment to Researchers Instead of Cashing In

Alberta Talks: The largest fragment recovered to date is a 13-kilogram piece belonging to Alex and Jan Mitchell. The piece that is about the size of a human head was found by amateur meteorite hunter Les Johnson on Nov. 28. It was returned to the Mitchells, who own the land where it was found (in Canada, meteorites are generally the property of the landowner where they fall). Alex and Jan Mitchell and Mr. Johnson agreed that the piece should be used for research and the Mitchells decided to donate the piece to the University of Calgary to be part of the university’s research collection.