The specimens meteorite hunters collect-and occasionally risk their lives to obtain-are an increasingly treasured commodity. "But the question is are you going to die sitting on the sofa or doing something interesting?" Space For Sale Would he pay for this passion with his life? "I'm sure I will," he says. Although he can't imagine having the courage to jump from an airplane, chasing meteorites in the world's wilds makes perfect sense to him. (Their attorney successfully argued that plucking rocks from aboveground could not be considered mining.) The meteorites were confiscated, and the two Americans are now banned from entering Oman.įor weeks after returning from the Middle East, Ward had had a hard time forcing himself to leave his Prescott, Ariz., home and when he did drive somewhere, to step out of his car.
Their ordeal would stretch on for 54 days, until a retrial freed them. The Americans could hear riots in other parts of the prison. The International Meteorite Collectors Association has been trying to find out the nation's legal guidelines, to no avail.Ĭonvicted of illegal mining, Farmer and Ward were sentenced to serve time with criminals from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Egypt. Now that those stones have great value on the world market, the authorities in Muscat have become fiercely protective. For centuries it had overlooked the rocks. Oman has no clear law against meteorite hunting. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to play Weeks later the bewildered Americans were given a 15-minute trial, which took place entirely in Arabic, and convicted of illegal mining. Ward and Farmer were taken in shackles to a military base, locked in solitary confinement, and interrogated around the clock. "The next thing I knew we were handcuffed together and thrown in the back of a truck." "When they found that big rock of Robert's, they really went nuts," Farmer says. Omani soldiers armed with M16s pulled them from their vehicles and started rifling through their belongings. Then, on the 14th day of the trip, the two Americans were stopped at a roadblock on a mountain pass near Adam.
For his part, Ward found a watermelon-size specimen, weighing nearly 100 pounds, that could easily be worth $60,000. He knew a collector who would want it, so he called from the field to arrange a $45,000 sale. The trip was proving to be particularly successful-Farmer claimed a find that had once rested on the moon. Oman's untouched landscape, monotone taupe background, and arid climate make for ideal hunting conditions. The pair were not on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula to hunt for gold, gems, or fossils. For 13 days in 2011 Michael Farmer and Robert Ward combed the southern desert of Oman, seeking treasure in the sands of Dhofar.
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