JOHNSTOWN, Colo. — It’s been 100 years since Denyse Seymour’s family gathered at the Johnstown Cemetery to lay her great-grandfather John Moore to rest.
The funeral had just started, when Seymour said it was crashed by an unexpected guest, a meteorite.
“People thought the world was ending when it hit,” Seymour said. “They went and dug up the meteorite, and then finished the funeral.”
The Johnstown meteorite eventually ended up at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, where it’s been studied for decades.
Professor Richard Benzel said it’s one of just a few like it in the entire world.
“Most meteorites on Earth land in the ocean or in places that are uninhabited, so nobody ever knows,” he said. “The fact that this was witnessed, and then immediately picked up and studied, made it extremely valuable, and it’s a very unique meteorite all on its own.”
Saturday, the meteorite made its way back to the Johnstown Cemetery, where a historical marker was unveiled to the community.
In attendance, five members of John Moore’s family, including Seymour.
“100 years is worth celebrating,” Seymour said. “I think it’s great.”
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