Meteorite law in Sweden
In 2025 the Supreme Court ruled that a newly fallen meteorite is movable property, so the finders who took it, not the landowner, owned it.
Landowner or finder
A test case: in November 2020 a bright fireball crossed Sweden, and two geologists later found an iron meteorite of about 14 kilograms in a forest near Enköping. The landowner claimed it. A district court sided with the finders in 2022, the appeal court gave it to the landowner in 2024, treating it like a boulder that is part of the land, and on 19 August 2025 the Supreme Court decided the case.
The ruling: the Supreme Court held that a newly fallen meteorite does not become part of the land. It is movable property, and the finders, who had taken possession of it, owned it. Sweden's right of public access lets people walk on others' land, but this ruling concerned ownership; damaging land or ignoring a landowner's wishes is still not allowed.
Export: leaving the European Union, important natural-history specimens above set values can need an EU export licence.
This is general information to help you ask the right questions, not legal advice. Laws change and their details matter, and this summary was last reviewed in 2026. Before you search, buy, sell or export a meteorite, check the current law with the authorities of the country concerned or a qualified lawyer. See meteorite law by country.
Related pages
Glossary: Meteorite ownership, Export rules, Landowner permission, Provenance