Padang Pariaman Residents Claims Found Meteor In Papaya Plantation, Already Called NASA

A resident of Padang Pariaman, West Sumatra, Robi Tamar (40) claims to have found a meteorite weighing eight kilograms (ANTARA)

PADANG - Resident of VII Koto Subdistrict, Padang Pariaman Regency, West Sumatra Robi Tamar (40) claims to have found a meteorite weighing eight kilograms. The stone claimed to be a meteor was found in his papaya garden in February 2021.

"Initially around the end of 2020 there were residents who saw a large fire falling on my garden, but I didn't believe it because I thought the garden area was haunted," said Robi at VII Koto, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, April 20.

Even though he received this information, Robi did not immediately see the condition of his garden because the price of the commodities planted had also dropped so he did not care about the land he had cultivated.

Until finally he found pieces of burnt rock which he suspected was a meteorite in February 2021.

After finding the rock, he said, he gradually found other types of rock.

He saw coconut and papaya leaves in his garden that were burnt marks and found a rock stuck in the ground around which there was soil sticking out like an explosion.

"After that I tried to find out what type of rock this is, but it did not work out. Until finally I joined the Indonesian Meteor Community, there I looked for people who understand meteor stones," he said.

Robi tried to establish communication with the person and asked what kind of stone he owned. The person also informed him that the rock he had was a meteorite.

From the person's explanation, the rock found was a rare type of meteor rock, namely a mixture of rock with metal, copper, and gold.

At least there are a number of types of meteor rocks he found. When tested, magnets can stick to all the rocks found.

In the near future, Robi will examine the stone to the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (LAPAN) to confirm his findings.

"I've tried to contact NASA but were directed to LAPAN," he said.

He said he was willing to sell the stone found, but provided the buyer would use it for education.