Man hoped he'd be a millionaire after rare meteorite hits his home. But now, he lives in fear instead

An Indonesian man supposedly became an instant millionaire after a meteorite crashed through his roof.  A humble coffin maker Josua Hutagalung was working next to his house when the metorite smashed into his living room. While initial reports suggested that the space rock sold for $1.8 million, the BBC later found that the number was a result of miscalculation and the actual amount may not be even close to a million dollars. Following the massive media attention and misreporting, Hutagalung had to spend his days in fear for his life while fending off interview requests.

A fortuitous gift from space

Hutagalung, who lived in a village in Sumatra, was minding his own business when he heard a noise followed by a loud crash coming from his house. He mustered up the courage to go look and found a large unknown object had crashed through his metal roofing and buried itself deep in the floor.

He told BBC's Indonesian service that when he found the rock it was still warm, which made him think that it was from outer space. Hutagalung then dug up the boulder which weighed about 4.4lb (2kg).

Since it wasn't a normal occurrence, Hutagalung took to social media to share pictures of the rock, which is when the news began to travel beyond his village and across borders.

Several collectors got interested but due to COVID-19 restrictions, nobody could get down to Indonesia. Some got in touch with US meteorite enthusiast Jared Collins, who was living in Indonesia.

He met Josua and authenticated the boulder. Soon the space rock and some other pieces of it were sold to a buyer in the US for an undisclosed amount. Some pieces even landed on eBay in the US which triggered speculation over the sale.

Bad math and wishful thinking

As per the BBC, the $1.8 million estimate came from a miscalculation of the value based on prices put up on eBay. The asking price for a 0.3g rock was $285 and the price for a bigger rock that weighed 33.68g was $29,120. Thus, the average price per gram comes out to be $860. This multiplied by the total weight of the larger boulder gives the estimate of $1.8 million.

"When I read that figure, I had to laugh," Laurence Garvie, a research professor at the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, told the BBC. The expert shared that no collector would pay that much for a meteorite and it may sell in the thousands but definitely not in millions.

Josua initially told the BBC’s Indonesia service that he sold the large rock for a little over $14,000. However, the intermediary, Collins did not reveal or confirm the price, which means both figures of $1.8 million and $14,000 may not be true.

Consequences of the miscalculation

In a rare in-person interview, Hutagalung told VICE World News that he had lived in fear for his life as criminals thought he had actually become a millionaire. He shared that he spent days rejecting interview requests as well.

“I’m afraid my child will be kidnapped because they think I’m already rich, and they will ask for ransom,” he told VICE. He said he was still living in the same home which was still normal and ordinary, indicating that he didn't get a million dollars. If he actually had the money, “I would recruit at least five security guards” for protection, he added.