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Re: Legal Meteorite Cases


>What are the court cases that have been decided as to who owns meteorites? 

The laws vary from country to country.  In the USA, the owner of the land
the meteorites land in is the owner of the meteorite.  If it falls
in public land, the US government owns it, and it generally ends up in
the Smithonian.

In Australia and Canada, the government owns all meteorites that land there. 

>I think in the case of the Old Woman, that it was found on National Park land.
>Anyone with the specifics on this one?  

The meteorite landed on public land, and the two guys who found it were trying
to claim the meteorite on mineral rights laws.  They lost, and the government
owns Old Woman.

>Also about the Williamette in Oregon, that was a private property issue,
>right?

This is an interesting case.  The meteorite landed in the property of
a steel company, but near the property of Ellis Hughes, and was the largest 
meteorite ever found in the USA. 
Hughes moved the meteorite over onto his property, which
was no easy feat as the meteorite weighed 15.5 tons. To do so, he cut a
road from the steel company's land to his property.  It took him 3 months 
to move it.   After moving the
meteorite to his property, he asserted the meteorite landed there and claimed
ownership of the meteorite.  He was later found out - the road back to the
steel company's property was rather obvious.  It went to court, and the
steel company eventually won (nearby neighbors also tried to lay claim
to the meteorite).  The meteorite was then bought by a buyer
in New York who donated it to the American Museum of Natural History, 
where it resides today.

Ron Baalke
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