Meteorite hunter

Michael Farmer, 40, lives in Arizona (USA), often rushing back and forth around the world in search of stones from the universe.

Farmer is one of the professional meteorite hunters operating in the world, according to National Geographic (USA).

Farmer said, 20 years ago, he bought a meteorite at a mineral exhibition in his hometown and from then on he was completely fascinated by these stones.

Michael Farmer meteorite hunter is 'working'
on a cornfield in Wisconsin (USA) - (Photo: WSJ)

'Since then I have traveled the world. If I only took the distance with American Airlines, I would have traveled about 6 million kilometers, ' said the American meteorite hunter.

Farmer estimates that about 70 countries have gone, including 59 times to Africa because 'there is a lot of work there.'

'It is easier to hunt for meteors in the Sahara and other desert areas in Africa than in other regions, and climate conditions in these places also help preserve meteorites better,' Farmer said.

Among the most valuable meteorites this "hunter" found, three pieces of moonstone found in the Middle East (he sold one for $ 100,000 in February). Moonstone is a type of meteorite that separates from the moon's surface and falls to Earth.

'Those are meteorites that I found myself. The most precious piece is what I found in Canada with three colleagues in 1931. It is an extremely rare meteorite called pallasite and is about 4.5 billion years old. We sold it to the Canadian government for nearly $ 1 million. It is currently on display at Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. It is seen as a treasure of nature ' , Farmer recalled.

Farmer also added that meteorite hunters often collaborate with scientific researchers to obtain meteorite data, and also reveals that professional meteorite hunters have plenty of room to store. My treasure '.

A meteorite is exhibited at an institute
museum in California state (USA) - (Photo: Reuters)

Farmer also acknowledged it was a dangerous profession and said he had been robbed and imprisoned: 'Two years ago I was sentenced to three months in Oman, Middle East with a charge of' exploiting the left mineral. permission '. It was an uneasy time '

'Then in 2011, I went to Kenya three times after I learned there was a large meteorite falling here. On the third trip, I was attacked by a bandit and they almost took my life. I was caught kneeling on the ground, with a machete blocking my throat and a gun pointing straight at my head , "Fermer continued.

'Luckily, they finally decided to just take things and not kill us. This is a dangerous profession because it involves money and everyone wants money , 'Farmer recalled.

The American meteorite hunter said that a few hundred thousand meteorite pieces are now known around the world, but he thinks there must be millions of meteorites scattered on the Earth, while estimating the number of workers. Professional meteorite hunters like him are about 20 people.

'If you include people who work part-time meteorites, the number could go up to hundreds , ' said Farmer.