In Novosibirsk studied a meteorite that for two decades propped up the car

In Novosibirsk, the study of the Chulyshman meteorite, which was found in the Altai Republic, was completed. The unusual story of the find is that for about two decades the stone was used as a stop under the wheel of a car, unaware of its cosmic origin.

According to the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, the International Meteorite Committee officially registered the find called Chulyshman. It was the first meteorite discovered in the Altai Republic and the 160th in Russia.

The stone was found about 20 years ago on the banks of the river Chulyshman. A local resident picked it up and kept it near the car for a long time, putting it under the wheel. Only in 2025, the find came to Viktor Likhachev, head of the creative association “Gems” in the village of Verkh-Uimon. He suggested that there might be a meteorite in front of him, and decided to hand over the sample to specialists for verification.

The study was engaged in scientists IGM SB RAS Andrey Vishnevsky and Viktor Sharygin. They studied the structure and chemical composition of the stone, and then submitted the documents for consideration by the International Meteorite Committee.

The analysis showed that Chulyshman belongs to ordinary H5 chondrites. The same group includes meteorites Novosibirsk and Chelyabinsk, as well as Okulovka, which pierced the roof of a building in the Novgorod region.

According to researchers, the composition of the Altai meteorite is relatively high in metal and sulfides. The stone is also heavily oxidized. Scientists believe that it fell to Earth at least a few hundred years ago, and possibly much earlier.

Part of the meteorite will be transferred to the Central Siberian Geological Museum in Novosibirsk Akademgorodok. The largest fragment can be seen in the museum "Gems" in the village of Upper Uymon.