23 votes

Swedish land owner wins legal battle to keep 14kg meteorite – appeals court ruled that such rocks should be considered “immovable property” and part of the land where they are found

Posted by mycketforvirrad
Tags: sweden.uppland, geology, meteorites, law, legal, courts.appeals, property.immovable, scientists, discoveries, allemansratten, offbeat, source.associated press, short read
https://apnews.com/article/sweden-meteorite-property-found-d495f6cfbe25bebc573fe3438416c62f

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Title
Swedish appeals court rules space rock should stay with the owner of the property where it landed
Published
Mar 21 2024
Word count
324 words

5 comments

  1. [5]
    nacho
    Link
    What this article doesn't say, which is a major point in the Swedish-language ones, is that the landowner thinks of this as such an important win because this makes exhibiting the meteorite...

    What this article doesn't say, which is a major point in the Swedish-language ones, is that the landowner thinks of this as such an important win because this makes exhibiting the meteorite publicly in a museum so much closer to a reality.

    The implication is that the "finders" want to keep/sell it, and that he just wants this important artifact to be publicly available to Swedes and therefore needs them not to own the meteorite.

    19 votes
    1. [4]
      guissmo
      Link Parent
      If I’m understanding right, the finders were geologists who wanted to send it to the museum anyway? So both them and the landowner wanted it in the museum? How did we get to the conclusion that...

      If I’m understanding right, the finders were geologists who wanted to send it to the museum anyway? So both them and the landowner wanted it in the museum?

      How did we get to the conclusion that the finders wanted to sell it?

      6 votes
      1. scroll_lock
        Link Parent
        Comment box Scope: interpretation/speculation Tone: neutral Opinion: some Sarcasm/humor: none 14 kilograms of iron ore isn’t worth much money. Like $10. The geologists might have wanted to chisel...
        Comment box
        • Scope: interpretation/speculation
        • Tone: neutral
        • Opinion: some
        • Sarcasm/humor: none

        14 kilograms of iron ore isn’t worth much money. Like $10. The geologists might have wanted to chisel it apart to analyze its structure in more depth. Perhaps the property owner wants it to remain in one piece.

        If the goal is display in a museum, I don’t see the value in assigning private ownership to alien objects (in the law). If anything, that would incentivize other property owners to… sell or hold onto objects of value, not make them public? A meteorite with rare metals (which a museum might be more interested in) would also fetch a higher price with industry.

        At the end of the day, it is a rock, but my approach would be to make it government-owned by default.

        5 votes
      2. [2]
        Malle
        Link Parent
        The source article for the translation below is over a year old, and in Swedish, but according to it both parties wanted to make sure the meteorite can be used for science or displayed in a...

        The source article for the translation below is over a year old, and in Swedish, but according to it both parties wanted to make sure the meteorite can be used for science or displayed in a museum. The land owner wanted to keep property rights to it and lend or lease it to the museum, while the geologists wanted to essentially sell it to them for "fair compensation" (swe: "skälig ersättning")

        [The land owner] Johan Benzelstierna von Engeström: I want it to be possible to examine and also be observed by the public in a Swedish museum, but I am not rescinding property rights to it. It's a matter of principle, that you don't just tale something from another person's land. The land owner must agree to it. Thus I would, as previously stated, for the extent of my lifetime deposit the meteorite as a permanent loan to a Swedish museum, I will not sell it.

        [One of the geologists] Anders Zetterqvist: I think this is the reason for the disagreement. We (the finders) want the meteorite to end up in the Swedish Museum of Natural History and that they, against fair compensation, would be allowed to take over the property rights for it. [The land owner] has other plans. He wants to keep the property rights and lend or lease the meteorite to a museum.

        https://www.popularastronomi.se/2022/12/nu-avgors-vem-som-ager-meteoriten/

        3 votes
        1. Malle
          Link Parent
          Some opinions and speculation in a separate reply. I don't know how much the geologists would ask for the meteorite. If it's basically to cover the cost of the search, I would still consider it a...

          Some opinions and speculation in a separate reply.

          I don't know how much the geologists would ask for the meteorite. If it's basically to cover the cost of the search, I would still consider it a noble gesture.

          One might think that the land owner presents a cheaper deal for the museum, but it is also easier since he's had (to my knowledge) no part in the cost of recovering the meteorite, only obtaining it by the luck of chance of it falling on his property and the geologists' effort to find it.

          Regardless, while I'm glad that it would seemingly not be used purely for profit regardless of the outcome of the case, I don't think the intent of what the different parties wants to do with it should have much of an impact on the legal resolution of the case.

          3 votes