Nikolay Kirillovich Akhmetov, a peasant of the Orlovka village, was plowing his field and noticed that his plow had brushed against some solid object. Curious, he dug up a stone and brought it to his house. The stone was a rarity, because there were not many stones on his land. For two years, the stone lay in the garden in front of Akhmetov's house, undergoing all the extremes of Novosibirsk weather.
On September 13, 1930, S.I. Kochiev, travelling to collect information about the history of the partisan movement, arrived in Orlovka. Mr. Akhmetov showed his find to Kochiev, who was staying at Akhmetov's house. Akhmetov also reported that the village's recently-arrived recently land-surveyor had said that the stone must have fallen from the sky.
For 2 rubles, Kochiev bought the stone and on the same day left on his further travels. The road had been damaged by a heavy rain, and as the wagon bumped over the ruts, the heavy stone broke through the back and fell out. Fortunately the loss was noted very soon. Kochiev retraced his journey for 3 km and again found the stone, after which he successfully brought it to the city of Omsk.
Based on a report from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), the Academy of Sciences of the USSR arranged transportation of the giant stony meteorite from Omsk to Leningrad. The meteorite, weighing 4 tons, appeared to have fallen within just a few weeks, according to its external appearance. For us it would not be a surprise if Catholic priests began to preach to their flocks that God had sent this four-ton mass to smash Joseph Stalin.
The paper "Die Rote Fanne",
Berlin, 15.03.1931.
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