Thanks to Hole in Roof, This Doghouse Could Sell for $300K

The hole was caused by a meteorite
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 16, 2022 11:28 AM CST
Doghouse With Hole in Roof Could Sell for $300K
The doghouse.   (Christie's Images LTD 2022)

A ramshackle doghouse with a 7-inch hole in its roof doesn't sound like it would be worth as much as $300,000. But that hole changes things. The structure, formerly home to a Costa Rican German shepherd named Roky, was hit by a meteorite on April 23, 2019, at 9:07pm, causing the damage to the roof and narrowly missing Roky inside. The structure, which originally called the city of Aguas Zarcas home, is now being offered for auction by Christie's as part of its "Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar, and Other Rare Meteorites" auction, reports Nine.

"The formal coordinates of Roky's home, 10°24'9.35"N 84°21'51.26"W, are now forever part of the scientific literature," observes Christie's. And while the winning bidder will get only the doghouse, Christie's notes that "Aguas Zarcas meteorites are the same type as Murchison, among the most researched meteorites of all time. ... Today, many cosmochemists throughout the world are either investigating Aguas Zarcas specimens or waiting to obtain them." But this meteorite is apparently not worth as much as the doghouse it hit: Fox News reports it is also available, with an estimated top bid of $60,000.

Christie's says there's some precedent for throwing big dollars after objects struck by meteorites. A mailbox that got ripped from its post in Claxton, Ga., fetched $83,000 at auction in 2007, and a Chevy Malibu hit by the Peekskill meteorite sold for $230,000 in 2010. Bidding on the doghouse closes in seven days; the current bid is $1,600. (More auction stories.)

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