Photo: AP It came from outer space, and landed in federal court 1 / 1 Back to Gallery 
 
 A 220-pound rock from outer space has got the earthlings fighting. The countersuit alleges Settgast sold the meteorite for $425,000, then engaged in an "outrageous act of seller’s remorse" by stealing back the space rock for himself. But Settgast's story is full of holes, according to the founders of the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum — Lawrence Stifler and Mary McFadden of Brookline, Massachusetts — and meteorite expert Darryl Pitt, of New York. But after the rock polishers, Keith and Dana Jenkerson of Osawatomie, Kan., who had been hired to spiff up the meteorite for its new owners, said they thought it was worth perhaps $1 million, Settgast decided he wanted his rock back, the Massachusetts couple say. How Settgast would have gotten the meteorite out of the lab, at the Jenkersons' home in Osawatomie, Kansas, without detection, and then to Marin County, where Settgast has been living with a relative, has not been clearly explained. He sued a museum in Maine and a New York meteorite expert in February alleging breach of contract over the sale of the meteorite. Stifler and McFadden countersued in March to get their hands on the rock. Minckley, from the sheriff’s office, reiterated that it’s his understanding Settgast stole the meteorite from the lab. "We didn’t go over the top in our complaint, but they certainly went over the top in their counterclaims." A hearing is set for June to be heard by Oakland-based U.S District Court Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong.
– The question of who owns a particular chunk of a famed meteorite is heading to federal court with the filing of a lawsuit and countersuit, SF Gate reports. It all started billions of years ago with the Fukang meteorite slammed into China's Gobi Desert. Fast-forward to the year 2000: when the meteorite was discovered and collectors began acquiring slices of it. Among them was Stephan Settgast, currently of California, who says he bought his 220-pound piece in 2004. In 2014, according to court documents, Settgast agreed to sell it to Lawrence Stifler and Mary McFadden of Massachusetts for $425,000. And then it all went bad. Settgast says the couple violated the conditions of the sale by planning to show it in their rock museum. They say not showing the meteorite was never a condition of the sale and suggest that Settgast got "seller's remorse" after learning he might have undervalued it. And, they allege, that remorse manifested in what they call the "outrageous act" of Settgast stealing back the rock from the studio of a pair of Kansas rock polishers who spent two years preparing the stone for the buyers, per NBC News. After all, the rock polishers did tell Settgast the meteorite could fetch up to $1 million (which, documents point out, would bump up their 5% fee to $50,000). How the alleged theft of the gold-flecked meteorite actually went down is unclear. Settgast filed a suit in February alleging breach of contract. Stifler, McFadden, and Darryl Pitt, the meteorite expert who brokered the deal, countersued last month. Local authorities in Kansas say they are going to hang back on pursuing Settgast for theft until a federal judge determines who owns the meteorite. "This isn't a typical theft," Miami County undersheriff tells NBC. (No one noticed this meteor the size of a large living room plowing into the earth.)