The owners of a meteorite that crash-landed in their home have turned their back on a $50,000 pay-day in favour of displaying the rock in New Zealand.
An American collector offered the money for Phil and Brenda Archer's space invader.
The meteorite landed in the living room of the Archers' Ellerslie home almost a month ago, sparking world-wide interest.
Despite more than one hefty cash offer, the Archers have decided to keep the meteorite in New Zealand.
From today it will be on display at Auckland Museum in a new Unseen Worlds exhibition.
"As much as it was tempting to sell it for an incredible amount of money, we wanted to see it displayed because of all the people who are interested in having a look," said Mr Archer.
The 1.3kg rock has been officially named the Auckland Meteorite. Tradition demands that a meteorite is named after the nearest post office, but an Ellerslie Meteorite fell in Australia several years ago. Tecoma Meteorite, named after the street, also had to be axed after it emerged that another rock found in the US had taken the name.
Valuable meteorite stays put in NZ
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