Museum Offers $25k Reward For Meteor: Here's Where To Look

Outside of St. Louis, Missouri on the night of November 11, 2019, a sonic boom was heard. At the same time, sightings from 7 different states tipped the appearance of a fireball falling from space. The next day, local Maine Mineral and Gem Museum sent out a bounty of sorts. The first person to bring them a one kilogram (or larger) chunk of this meteorite would get a $25,000 USD reward.

The Maine Mineral and Gem Museum ("MMGM") already has a "place of honor" reserved for the meteorite. MMGM suggested that they'll be opening their doors for the first time on December 12, 2019, and hope to have a piece of this meteor on display by then.

"It's an exciting opportunity to have a sample from a fireball seen one month before our official opening and we wish to enlist the public's assistance," said Museum Director Barbra Barrett. "Preliminary reports indicate a fall site approximately 50 kilometers northeast of Columbia."

While the fall site was reported 50 kilometers northeast of Columbia, it's quite possible that chunks could've fallen over a very broad area. If we look at this Google Maps image here, they've got a little bar in the corner showing the approximate size of a 10-mile distance. We need around 3 of these to get to 50 kilometers.

If you think you've found a piece of this particular fireball – or of any other meteorite in general – the MMGM wants you to let them know! They want your high-resolution photos of said rocks! The email info@mainemineralmuseum.org is cited by the MMGM website at the time this article is set to go live. They've added a disclaimer to their call for meteorites as well: "Please do not send specimens. MMGM is not responsible for any unsolicited specimens sent to the museum, nor is MMGM responsible for returning them to senders."

Meanwhile the MMGM will be hosting a variety of other chunks of space stuff, like "the five largest pieces of the Moon on Earth," a part of the Stifler Collection of Meteorites. They've suggested that, at opening, they'll have the "world's rarest displays of space rocks." This museum also boasts the most comprehensive collection of gems and minerals unearthed in Maine.