A nine-year-old girl found a meteorite which is older than the Earth itself on a beach near her home.
Ariana Church made the extraordinary find with her seven-year-old sister, Leyla, mother Hayley, 39, and grandmother Marion, at Penarth Pier in Wales.
It was later identified as an ‘extremely rare Ferrous Iron Aerolite’ dating back 4.5 billion years.
The family were walking along the beach when Ariana spotted the unusual-looking stone and decided to pick it up.
They searched on the internet and found that the object was a meteorite, although it was initially dismissed by Ariana’s father as an ‘AI mistake’.
However, a friend of the family – who is also a geologist – confirmed the finding was quite literally out of this world.
Matt Church, 40, said his daughter is a keen adventurer and loves collecting things on walks.
‘Ariana generally has an interest in collecting stuff off the beach – from sea glass to fossils, and sometimes she does litter picking too,’ he said.
Ariana Church, nine, pictured with the meteorite she discovered on the beach in Wales
Ariana made the extraordinary discovery while on a family outing with her sister, mother and grandmother
‘As we live in Penarth, she is always out and about exploring.
‘But on that day, she spotted an unusual-looking stone that probably anyone other than a nine-year-old, or her, would have left!
‘It didn’t look like anything much.
‘It was roughly the size of a tennis ball – very, very heavy.’
Ariana said: ‘I wish I could share it with everyone because what I found was so special I want everyone to experience it.
‘I wouldn’t sell it for all the money, finding this is the best!’
Her mother Hayley, 39, said the rock had a ‘metallic’ smell.
Matt added: ‘Ariana had started to learn about Google lens, and so she used it on the rock and it said straight away it was a meteorite.
The meteorite had to be cut in half in order to test the age of the rock by looking at the crystals
‘But we dismissed it as AI and thought it had made a mistake.’
Ariana decided to keep the rock and took it home to her treasure box.
It was only when a friend of the family, who is also a geologist, visited their home and took a look at the unusual rock – that the family realised the extent of Ariana’s discovery.
Matt said: ‘Our friend took a look at the rock and said, “that is definitely something that I consider to be a meteorite!”
‘After taking it into the lab and testing it, they confirmed it was indeed a meteorite – and said it is the oldest thing a human can handle.’
It turns out the unassuming rock was in fact a meteorite from our solar system – older than the Earth itself.
Matt explained: ‘When you’re describing its significance to kids, you can say its older than the oceans, dinosaurs and the planet itself.’
To test the meteorite, it had to be cut in half, which revealed tiny crystals inside of a golden colour formed over billions of years.
The extraordinary discovery was made at Penarth Pier in Wales
The discovery has made Ariana a ‘local celebrity’ at her school – as she even delivered her own piece in assembly telling other pupils about her meteorite.
Ariana said: ‘I can’t believe I have found something that could have been a planet that no longer exists, I keep a pen with me to sign autographs in school!’
Grandmother Marion said a powerful message came from Ariana’s find: encouraging children to get outdoors and explore for themselves.
She explained: ‘We need to get kids out, off screens, looking down and looking around and notice what is around them!’
Matt said: ‘If you have your head in an Xbox you’re not going to have the opportunity to find things like that.
‘As long as it’s not sideways raining and sleet we are out doing collecting and exploring.’
The meteorite remains in Ariana’s treasure box at home – where she keeps it for safe-keeping and creative inspiration.
