A gun company announced that it is using a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite to create a set of functional guns it described as a "modern work of art."
Cabot Guns, based in Pennsylvania, said they were building a mirror-image set of "meteor guns" constructed from a 35 kg portion of the "prized" Gibeon meteor, which was first discovered in Africa in the early 1800s.
The set of two 1911-style pistols called "The Big Bang Pistol Set" will debut at the National Rifle Association Convention in Kentucky in May 2016.
They are likely to be auctioned at estimated values of $500,000, but may sell for more than $1 million, the company said in a press release.
A collector has already offered Cabot $250,000 based on the concept alone, according to the company.
Cabot said the construction of each component of the "extra-terrestrial guns" was a "science experiment."
The Gibeon meteor is considered the "Cadillac of meteors," the company said.
Parts of the Gibeon have been used to create everything from watches and rings to knives. Etched meteorite slices are also on sale on eBay.
“It’s both romantic and fascinating to imagine that this meteor traveled across the heavens for 4 billion years before landing on Earth and is now being transformed into Cabot pistols,” company president Rob Bianchin said in a statement.
Gun lovers relished the prospect of owning a gun made from a "freaking meteorite."
Others heralded Cabot's "true innovative spirit" in the gun industry.
But some gun rights supporters did not find the idea quite so romantic.
