The Meteorite That Vanished: El Ali’s Strange Journey

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  For Scientific American Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feldman.

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  For generations, a massive iron meteorite sat in the Somali desert,

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  becoming a landmark where children played and herders sharpened their knives.

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  Then, in 2020, a group of armed men arrived to steal it.

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  The L. Alli meteorite contains three minerals never before seen naturally on Earth,

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  making it scientifically priceless.

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  But its journey from Somalia to the black market with some research along the way raises uncomfortable questions.

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  Are scientists helping to legitimize stolen artifacts and perhaps even adding to their monetary value before they go up for sale?

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  Here to walk us through the story is Scientific American senior editor Dan Vergano,

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  who investigated the meteorite's dubious trajectory for a recent feature article.

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  Thanks so much for coming on to talk through this story with us.

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  You bet.

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  Good to talk to you.

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  So can you start by just painting a picture?

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  You know, what is this meteorite?

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  What made it so special to the local community in Somalia before it disappeared?

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  Well, it wasn't, it wasn't.

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  It was this thing that was just part of their lives.

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  This rock off in the distance away from a village where camel foragers live,

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  you know, and kids played on it.

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