Dates, events, facts

The statue of the Buddha has an extraterrestrial origin

Researchers from the Stuttgart university have found out, that the ancient Buddha sculpture is made of a rare version of meteorites –ataxite.

The statue is known as «the iron person», represents a hybrid of Buddha arts. The age of a 10-kilogramme sculpture is estimated per 1000 year.

«The iron person» was found out in 1938 by German expedition under the guidance of known zoologist Ernest Shefera. Expedition was supervised by Henry Himmler.

How the sculpture has been how found, it is not known. Expedition has brought it to Germany where it was many years in a private collection. The find became accessible to studying after sale at auction in 2007.