Space. Who owns the largest Martian meteorite to fall from the sky?

But who owns a stone that fell from the sky? The debate has been rekindled following the sale in July in New York of the largest Martian meteorite ever found , now claimed by Niger.

Coming straight from the red planet, this large rock weighing around 25 kg was sold last month by the famous auction house Sotheby's to an anonymous private buyer for a record amount exceeding 5 million dollars.

A transaction that irritates Niger, where this meteorite was found in 2023, the government having announced that it would open an investigation following the auction to "shed light on this affair".

The latter "probably presents all the characteristics of illicit international trafficking," according to Niamey, which on Friday suspended exports of precious stones and meteorites until further notice.

Sotheby's rejects these accusations, insisting that the meteorite was "exported from Niger and transported in accordance with all applicable international procedures." However, given the controversy, a re-examination of the case is underway.

According to the description on its website, the ochre-tinged stone was discovered "on November 16, 2023, by a meteorite hunter in the remote region of Agadez in Niger."

It was then sold to an international dealer and briefly exhibited in Italy before ending up in auctioneers' catalogs in North America. For American paleontologist Paul Sereno, who has worked closely with Niamey for years, everything suggests that the stone left Niger "illegally." "Everyone is anonymous" in this story, he points out, not hiding his anger.

"If they had caught the meteorite as it was hurtling towards Earth and before it landed in a country, then they could have claimed it (...) but now, I'm sorry, it belongs to Niger, even if its origin is Mars," he fumes.

Because meteorites do not have a truly universal legal status, their ownership is governed by international law and by the law specific to their point of fall. In the United States, for example, ownership of these stones falling from the sky reverts to the owner of the land if they are private, which is not the case in Niger.

Beyond a legal spat and the possible involvement of a trafficking network, the sale of this meteorite also raises ethical questions. This rock, named NWA 16788, is of inestimable scientific value. Much larger than other Martian meteorites—very rare—identified so far, it offers a unique testimony to the geological history of the Red Planet.