Museum Offers Reward For Irish Meteorite

Stargazers from all along the east coast have reported spotting the fireball in the sky on Monday August 22nd, and it's thought to have touched down west of there on Irish soil.

Because of the country's size, meteorites rarely land in Ireland - only two have been found there over the past 100 years.

The last one was in 1999, when an elderly woman in Carlow sold it for several thousand dollars to a private collector in Scotland.

Meteorites are valuable to scientists because they contain clues to the history of the universe.

The National Museum says the size of the reward it will give depends on the size and condition of the meteorite.

Locating the rock could prove difficult however.

Typically, the space rock is no bigger than football or a golf ball.

The museum says it has been contacted by many people over the years with what they call "Meteor-wrongs" - items that turned out to be anything from lumps of metal or furballs from cows.

Astronomy Ireland has asked its members to report sightings of the fireball in the sky to its website, in the hope that treasure hunters can narrow their search area down.