A 13.6-kilogramme chunk of the Willamette Meteorite, which was found in Oregon in 1902 and has been steeped in ownership controversies for more than a century, was offered by Bonhams auction house at an estimated value of US$1.3 million, but was withdrawn from sale after bidding ended at US$300,000.

Similarly, the 640-kilogramme Brenham Main Mass, dug out of a central Kansas farm field in 2005, was withdrawn by Bonhams CEO and auctioneer Malcolm Barber after it drew a top bid of only US$200,000 - well short of the pre-sale estimate of US$630,000 to US$700,000.

In both cases the sellers, who were present, said they were not worried because potential purchasers were known to be interested in the extraterrestrial rocks even though they may not have joined the bidding.

'I'm disappointed, but it was not through any lack of effort,' said Philip Mani, a San Antonio lawyer and geologist who is one of three owners of the Brenham meteorite, along with Steve Arnold, who found it, and Allen Binford, who owns the wheatfield near Greensburg, Kansas, where it was discovered.

'We are in the process of putting together a plan, and we have a number of inquiries from people expressing interest.'

American Museum of Natural History
The entire 15.5 ton Willamette Meteorite has been owned by the American Museum of Natural History since 1908, with pieces loaned or given to other collectors from time to time.

The small piece was offered at auction by Darryl Pitt, curator of the Macovich Collection, the world's largest collection of space rocks, who traded the museum a Martian rock for the Willamette chip in 1998.

Mr Pitt said the fact that it went unsold was 'not really a surprise,' and said he also expected a lot of interest from prospective buyers.

Having sold several other rocks, including a Siberian meteorite - a product of history's largest known meteor shower - for the day's top price of US$122,750, he called the auction 'not a bad day.' 'It shows there is a lot of interest in meteorites,' he said.

The couple who bought the Siberian rock, which some observers have likened to an erotic painting by Georgia O'Keeffe, declined to identify themselves.

Scientists believe the huge Willamette meteorite, the largest ever found in North America, crashed billions of years ago in what is now Canada and was pushed southward by glaciers before it was discovered in an area occupied by Oregon's Clackamas Indians.

Objection to sale
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, which includes the Clackamas, has objected to the auction of the 13.6-kilogramme fragment. The tribe believes the meteorite is a sacred object that was sent to earth by the Sky People; demands for its return to the group have been refused.

'I don't know what to say about their claim,' Mr Pitt said after the auction.

Among the more than 50 meteorites, moon rocks and other items that Bonhams auctioned off for a total of US$750,000, a surprise star was a mailbox that had sat outside the trailer park home of Carutha Barnard in Claxton, Georgia, until it was blasted one night in 1984 by a 1.36-kilogramme rock from outer space.

In spirited bidding, the mailbox - somewhat the worse for the experience but with its red metal flag still bravely in the 'up' position - went to an unidentified bidder for US$82,750, including the buyer's premium of 20 per cent. A tiny piece of the rock itself, less than an ounce (28 grams), went for US$7,700.

The Valera Meteorite, noteworthy as the only space rock known to have caused a fatality on earth, was sold for US$1,554. Its victim in 1972 was a cow in Venezuela. -- AP