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A windfall has come for residents of Kirinyaga County who picked rocks that fell from the sky a week ago.
On the material day, the residents heard an explosion but didn’t know what to make of the rocks that fell on their farms.
Out of curiosity, some of the villagers collected the debris, which later turned out to be meteorites. Two brothers are said to have made about Sh480,000 from selling a huge chunk of rock that they found in their neighbour’s farm.
A meteoroid is a chunk of space rock. If it burns up while entering the Earth’s atmosphere, it is called a meteor and if a piece lands, it is called a meteorite.
The night the meteorites fell, frightened villagers locked themselves in their houses to pray, thinking the world was coming to an end.
READ ALSO: Kirinyaga villagers run for dear life as meteorites fall
A resident who gave her name only as Wambui said she was surprised to see several fragments on her farm.
She was relieved when neighbours carted away most of the rocks. While the meteorites fell on Friday night, it wasn’t until Monday that treasurer hunters thronged the village to buy them.
Initially, the stones were given freely or sold at throwaway prices. Driven by demand from traders and researchers, the value of the stones skyrocketed.
Two brothers from Kiambiti, near Gatuto Primary School, found a 6kg meteorite in their neighbour’s farm, which they claim to have sold at Sh80,000 per kilogramme.
In Kimicha, a man reportedly sold a meteorite weighing 7.4kg at Sh210,000.
