Meteorite crashes into pensioner's garden in Thailand

A struggling pensioner was astonished after a black meteorite crashed into his garden.

Somrit Boonpeng, 65, was in the toilet and jumped when he heard a loud crash in front of his house at Buriram, Thailand.

The man thought that someone was trying to break into the house so he silently walked towards the front door.

He peeked into the window and saw nobody, but there was a small glistening material on the floor.

Somrit immediately called his wife, Toy Boonpeng, 60, and inspected the small rock he saw near the fence together.

They were astonished when they realised that it was a meteorite that had fallen from the sky.

The precious rock had a glossy jet black colour with small craters. It measured 5cm in diameter and weighed around 500 grams.

The couple, who survive on a couple of hundred pounds a month, believed that the meteorite has brought them good fortune ever since they found it.

They said they were always in a good mood and had good dreams.

The couple is unsure how much the meteorite is worth, but claim a local businessman has offered them 100,000 Baht (2,500 GBP). They refused to sell it.

Somrit said: ''I feel really happy and relaxed whenever I look at it as if it eases my tired body.

''I had a dream that my friends were exhausted when climbing but I was the only one who was able to reach the mountain.

''The rock was giving me energy.''

Now, Somrit hoped that authorities or researchers would visit them to check the meteorite so they will know its real value.

Meteorites - which can be around four billion years old - contain a significant amount of extraterrestrial iron and nickel. They can be worth as much as 1,000 per gram.

Last month it emerged that Josua Hutagalung from Indonesia found a meteorite which crashed though his roof. He sold the rock for a pittance before discovering it could be worth much more.