By Najia Houssari — arabnews.com — BEIRUT: The “Hermel meteorite” is continuing to generate controversy in Lebanon, becoming a top trend on several social media platforms. In Hermel, a town in the Baalbek-Hermel governorate 143 km from Beirut, a man claiming to be from NASA has reportedly discovered a 4,000-year-old meteorite worth billions of dollars. The Lebanese have reacted skeptically, with one beleaguered member of the public saying: “Amid the countless crises, all Lebanon was missing was a meteorite falling.” It has been claimed that “a geological engineer with US citizenship came to Lebanon about a year ago and headed to Hermel, which is 780 meters above sea level, with the help of a GPS and an interpreter.” Reports added that “he got to a specific geographical area located on a property owned by a person who was out of town so he asked the municipality to complete the official procedures so that he could return with others to search for a meteorite that fell there about 4,000 years ago.” The engineer allegedly explained that the meteorite “may be the largest to hit the Middle East, leaving a hole with a diameter of about 130 meters, and if it is extracted, it will have an important scientific value and science museums can be established at the site.”

Residents in Hermel said NASA “detected radioactive materials in one of the properties surrounding the site.” The mayor of Hermel, Sobhi Saqr, began searching for the property owner, Camille Nadim Murad, whose residence and address are unknown. In July, he published an announcement in the Official Gazette, informing him that work would be carried out “urgently for the public interest on property No. 2604.” He asked the person concerned to communicate with the municipality, stressing that the works would not change the property’s features or lower its value. The excavations, which began at the site without the permission of the property owner, sparked a controversy on social media. The mayor was accused of “fraud and greed and of working in secret at the property in the hope of making huge profits.” It was reported that “one gram of the meteorite is worth $4,000 to $8,000, and if the meteorite is found at a depth of 12 meters, its value will reach billions of dollars, while it is estimated to weigh 12 tons, according to preliminary studies by scientists.” No research center has followed up on the matter or visited the area.

The Lebanese took to social media to discuss the news about the Hermel meteorite. Some people said the Hermel meteorite was “yet another calamity that befell Lebanon.” Others joked that Lebanon “got a meteorite before getting electricity.” Others mockingly said that “the ruling parties will now fight over how to distribute the meteorite shares among them.” Dr. Roger Hajjar, a coordinator from the Task Force for Astronomy in Lebanon, told Arab News: “Through space imaging, NASA can monitor geographical forms on the globe that cannot be discovered from the ground. “Natural factors erase many landmarks with time, but they can be identified from space.” Hajjar, however, said that rumors about radioactive materials were “unscientific.” He added: “If the meteorite fell 4,000 years ago, it would have been documented throughout history. This area has always been inhabited and any such activity would be mentioned in historical records, but no one ever mentioned a meteorite falling.” Hajjar noted: “Several meteorites have fallen over the Middle East and have been documented; there are geographical signs discovered in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. “Since the inception of the solar system, meteorites have been falling, and they can be observed on the moon, Mercury and other bodies whose nature has not changed.” Mayor Saqr initially refused to delve into any details of what was going on. He only said that “the municipality will submit official letters to the concerned authorities and research centers to follow up on the matter during the next few days.” It was reported that the owner of the property filed lawsuits that led to a judicial decision to stop excavation on his property.

The governor of Baalbek-Hermel, Bashir Khader, said that the landowner’s proxy visited him earlier this month and informed him that the municipality claimed that NASA had contacted it about a meteorite that fell on the property 4,000 years ago and that there are radioactive materials there. The proxy asked Khader to “stop the Hermel municipality from carrying on with the excavations on his client’s property.” Khader stressed: “NASA has not communicated with any official body in Lebanon, neither the Ministry of Defense nor the Ministry of Energy,” adding that these were all rumors and that he sent a letter to the municipality asking it to reveal the truth.

The municipality stated on Monday: “A representative of NASA submitted a request to the municipality a while ago to allow him to inspect a land located on property no. 2604 to look for signs of a meteorite impact. “The municipality showed cooperation conditional with legal procedures and then sent an employee and an interpreter with him to inspect the site. “Initial inspection revealed that there were no tangible signs that required informing the concerned authorities in the country to intervene, and no works were carried out within the mentioned property.” Hajjar did not rule out the possibility of the whole episode being a con. “In times of economic collapse, people believe any illusion that can bring them money.”