News & Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2026

Ancient 4.1-Billion-Year-Old Martian Meteorite to Go on Public Display at the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum

Rare space rock offers visitors a firsthand look at Mars’ early history starting next week.

BETHEL, MAINE, November 3, 2026 — The Maine Mineral & Gem Museum today announced the exclusive, limited-time exhibition of Teghaza 001, a remarkably preserved 4.1-billion-year-old meteorite. Discovered in the Malian desert, this specimen of space history will be on public display starting the week of November 9, 2026, in the museum’s space rocks gallery featuring the Stifler Collection of meteorites.

According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announcement of October 29, “What scientists learn from future studies could help answer many questions, including how water and rocks interacted on ancient Mars. A separate paper published in Science Advances in June detailed the meteorite’s water content, offering a look at how water shaped the early planet’s surface.”

“A child in rural Maine being able to touch the Moon and Mars is something previously unimaginable,” said Jean Benedict, Executive Director. Wonders can and do exist in rural settings, and such an experience is a potentially life-changing encounter.

About the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum

The Maine Mineral & Gem Museum (MMGM) opened in 2019 in Bethel, Maine. The museum is housed in one of the oldest commercial buildings in the town of Bethel and has become the premier science museum in the state. MMGM now holds over 80,000 specimens of pegmatites, polished gemstones and precious minerals, all mined in Maine, in addition to a collection of many of the oldest Martian and lunar meteorites.

With primary funding from Dr. Larry Stifler and his family foundation, the museum was created to retain these priceless treasures in the state of Maine in perpetuity. Since opening its doors, MMGM has welcomed over 100,000 visitors, 9,000 of whom were students.

Media Contact
Jean Benedict
Executive Director
Maine Mineral & Gem Museum
jbenedict@mainemineralmuseum.org
207-824-3036
www.mainemineralmuseum.org

Spotlight on U.S. meteorites brings together specimens from 43 states, including stones from falls that hit a car, a rooftop, and a piece of a headline-making fall that lit up a Georgia sky and interrupted a resident’s Zoom call. The display features a giant map of America’s documented falls and finds.

The Maine Mineral & Gem Museum (MMGM) will open a new temporary U.S. meteorite exhibit, The Sky Is Falling! Spotlight on U.S. Meteorites, on Saturday, October 10, 2026. The exhibit explores meteorites found across the United States and the remarkable, often astonishing stories behind their discovery. It showcases how landscape, people, and science converged to shape our understanding of the rocks that fall from space.

Of the 46 U.S. states with known recovered meteorites, The Sky Is Falling! features specimens from 43 of them, drawn from the museum’s own collection along with some select loans. Specimens are displayed over a large map charting documented meteorite falls and finds across the country. Visitors can trace where and how each stone came to Earth.

The “how” is where this exhibit comes alive. Alongside the science, The Sky Is Falling! tells the human stories behind the specimens: meteorites that struck a parked car or landed inside a bedroom, stones recovered by amateur astronomers and university students, and falls that advanced our scientific understanding of impacts and meteorite recovery. Among the highlights visitors can expect:

• • A slice of the Peekskill meteorite (New York, 1992). One of the best-documented falls in history. Thousands at a Friday-night high school football game witnessed a football-sized stone crash through the trunk of a parked Chevy Malibu. Fittingly, the exhibit opens the weekend of the fall’s 34th anniversary (October 9, 1992).

• • McDonough (Georgia, June 2025). A stone meteorite hunters found mere days after a smaller piece fell into a home and interrupted the resident’s Zoom call. 

• • Park Forest (Illinois, 2003). On loan from meteorite hunter Roberto Vargas. This was the first witnessed U.S. fall of the 21st century. Parts of the falling meteorite collided with a car. 

• • New Orleans (Louisiana, 2003). It punched through a roof, two floors, and an antique desk. On loan from MMGM researcher Alexander “Al” Falster. Al collected fragments of the fall with his mineralogy students the next day.

• • Searsmont (Maine, 1871): part of the largest meteorite ever found to fall in the state.

“Of the 46 states where meteorites have been recovered, we’re proud to display specimens from 43, laid out over a map of the whole country,” said Myles Felch, Curator at the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum. “The stories are as remarkable as the stones themselves: from meteorites that struck a car or a person to specimens that helped advance our understanding of impacts and how we recover these rare visitors. It’s a chance to see just how much of the meteorite story has played out right here in the United States, and in Maine.”

“Every one of these specimens is a piece of the solar system that we can hold in our hands and study,” said Patrick Leverone, Meteorite Outreach Manager at MMGM. “Bringing so many U.S. falls together in one place lets visitors see not just where meteorites land, but how each recovery has added to what we know about our place in the cosmos.”

The exhibit drew on “From Weston to Creston,” meteorite collector Frank Cressy’s compendium of U.S. meteorite falls. It helped guide its development and is on sale in the Museum Store. MMGM is proud to display several American meteorites from Mr. Cressy’s own collection. The museum extends special thanks to him and to Connecticut-based meteorite hunter Roberto Vargas for helping the museum represent more U.S. meteorites from more states. Fittingly, several specimens come from recent falls that happened after the book originally published — one of them just last year.

The Sky Is Falling! Spotlight on U.S. Meteorites opens Saturday, October 10, 2026, at the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum. The exhibit is on display for a limited time in the Discovery Gallery, which is free during museum hours.

About the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum

Nestled in the heart of Bethel, MMGM is home to the most significant collection of Maine minerals and gemstones in the world. A one-of-a-kind destination where geology, history, science, and education come to life, the museum also boasts one of the rarest displays of meteorites in the world, including Moon and Mars rocks. Through hands-on exhibits, expert storytelling, and cutting-edge research, MMGM inspires curiosity in visitors of all ages, inviting them to explore the incredible story of our planet — and beyond.

For admission information and upcoming events, visit www.mainemineralmuseum.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @mainemineralmuseum.

For more information, reach MMGM media contact Aidan McCourt at amccourt@mainemineralmuseum.or