Level 1 Reading 9A

Ch.17

Reading 9A MEET THE METEORITE HUNTER Michael Farmer is a meteorite hunter. Here, he talks about his unusual job. National Geographic (NG): What's the hardest part of your job? Michael Farmer: I'm always looking for new pieces [of meteorite rock], so I have to travel a lot. I've been to about 70 countries or so. The job can be dangerous because some rocks are worth a lot of money. On one such trip, I was robbed and almost killed. That was scary. There are other issues, too. It's illegal to take meteorite pieces from some countries. So you have to be very careful and learn the law. It's different everywhere. NG: Are there a lot of meteorite pieces on Earth? Michael Farmer: Yes, there are millions, but most land in the forest, jungle, or ocean. They're almost impossible to locate. One of the best places to find pieces is in the Sahara Desert in Africa. You can see them easily in the sand. The heat also preserves the rocks well.

NG: What's the most valuable meteorite you've found? Michael Farmer: I found one piece in the Middle East, and I sold it for $100,000. It was a small piece—about the size of a walnut. But the most valuable was in Canada. Three partners and I discovered a very rare type of meteorite called a pallasite. It weighed 53 kilograms, and it's around 4.5 billion years old. We sold it to the Canadian government for just under a million dollars. Now it's in the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. It's a national treasure. NG: Who else buys the rocks from you? Michael Farmer: Museums and private collectors are always calling me. New meteorites are in demand, and so they sell quickly. I also sell them to a lot of scientists. They don't have the time or money to search for these rocks. Without the help of hunters, 99 percent of these meteorites would be lost to science.

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