不可思议的阿勒泰陨石。博物馆藏品。已稳定并受到保护。 铁陨石 - 高度: 25.7 cm - 宽度: 19.7 cm - 2.31 kg

world’s largest iron meteorite (74 tons) discovered in Aletai Prefecture, Xinjiang’s Uyghur region, in July 2011. The local government carried it away supposedly for “protection.”

A year and a half later, the meteorite’s finders — Hailati Ayisa and Jiaerheng Habudehai, two Kazakh guides — decided to challenge the government. Once deposited, it could become the first case concerning ownership of space objects, reported Southern Weekly. The pasture’s ranchers where the meteorite was found also claimed ownership, further complicating matters.

The three parties claimed to be the first discoverers of the iron meteorite. It will not be easy for the judicial authorities to render a correct verdict because Chinese civil law does not follow the theory of “first possession” of property, which holds that ownership is justified by whoever asserts it before others do.

Hailati hails from Qinghe County in Aletai, the place where China’s largest iron meteorite, the “Silver Camel,” was found. He was Passionate about meteorites and had befriended the sheep merchant Jiaerheng while doing business.

In April 2011, Hailati received a call from another meteorite enthusiast. The man told Hailati they were searching for a meteorite on a pasture in Aletai and hoped he would join the search.

A nine-member team of meteorite enthusiasts then set out to locate the object believed to have originated from space. Zhang Baolin, a meteorite expert from the Beijing Planetarium, and meteorite collector Lei Kesi were among them. The search, however, proved unsuccessful. Before the nine men dispersed, they reached a verbal agreement with Hailati and Jiaerheng for them to continue the search.

"Zhang Baolin said that we would probably receive a large reward if we found it and informed the government," Hailati said. Living an ordinary life, Hailati and Jiaerheng saw the search as an opportunity that could change their fortune.

June 17, 2011 turned out to be the day they found the meteorite. "It was a gift from the Lord, I thought our lives would be different," Jiaerheng told Southern Weekly.

They immediately informed the seven remaining meteorite enthusiasts, but received no reply. However, a few days later they learned from the Beijing Planetarium that the man they had informed had reported the discovery to the Chinese Academy of Sciences as his "first discoverer."

Beijing Planetarium experts tried to calm them, saying “we know you two found it,” and shortly after issued them a certificate.

On July 16, 2011, the meteorite was officially confirmed as the fourth largest iron meteorite in the world and was found to be part of the same meteoroid as the "Silver Camel."

However, the local government removed the iron meteorite from the pasture as soon as possible, claiming they merely wanted to ensure better protection of the meteorite.

They also denied that Hailati and Jiaerheng were the first discoverers of the iron meteorite, claiming that Sun Jianguo, the Party Secretary of Aletai, had already spotted it in 2004. But there was no evidence for this claim. According to Zhang Min, lawyer for Hailati and Jiaerheng, no government had a legal basis to demand, seize, or dispose of meteorites.

As for their reward, the local government agreed to give Hailati and Jiaerheng only 5,000 yuan (about $802) each due to their “touching conduct.” Nevertheless, the two men deemed the reward insufficient and rejected the offer.

Meteorite collector Lei Kesi argued that "Beijing Planetarium and I paid Hailati and Jiaerheng for their help." He believed they had been employed to assist the search and thus should not claim ownership. Hailati and Jiaerheng denied this particular relationship but admitted to receiving a small sum from the Beijing Planetarium during their last search.

However, unexpectedly, pasture entrepreneurs Juman and Kenjiebieke Remazan now claimed that they actually discovered the iron meteorite in 1986 and thus also claimed ownership.

Under China’s land procurement system, pasture entrepreneurs can obtain only rights and interests in the pasture itself, and since meteorites are not produced by the pasture, the Remazan brothers should not possess the meteorite, Meng Qinguo, a law professor at Wuhan University, stated.

In fact, some scientists had already proposed legalizing government ownership of meteorites eight years ago, but the project had somehow stalled. Meteorite enthusiast Liu Xin told newspapers that finding a meteorite takes a lot of time and money,
"Discoverers will be harmed if their hard-to-find meteorites are simply taken by the government."

"I hope laws can encourage individuals to find more meteorites and benefit both the country and the discoverer," Liu Xin said.