Livingston , Wisconsin ( CNN ) -- It 's the end of the day in rural southwest Wisconsin , and the Trocke family wanders through a ditch along a county road , their eyes fixed on the earth . Dan and Laurie Trocke , and their three kids , are on a mission for fragments of rock that came from about as far away as one can imagine . `` We 're not finding a lot , but that 's beside the point really , '' Laurie Trocke says . `` We 're not professionals . It 's purely for fun . '' It all began the evening of April 14 , when what looked like a giant fireball came crashing through the atmosphere . `` It just lit up the whole sky , '' she says . `` You thought it was thunder and lightning , but it just kept going and going and going . '' `` It really did n't sound natural , '' Dan Trocke adds . What they were witnessing was a meteor -- and a pretty spectacular one at that . Watch the video . Michael Farmer , whom the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago , Illinois , calls the `` world 's top meteorite hunter , '' said that as soon as he saw video of the display , he hopped a flight to Wisconsin . `` Most of them do n't make a light show or a sound show , '' Farmer said . `` When this one came in , the energy released was like nuclear bomb-type energy . ... [ I knew ] there would be thousands of pieces on the ground . '' By definition , those pieces are what scientists call meteorites : the remnants of the meteor that do n't burn up along the journey and instead make it all the way to the ground . Farmer headed to the sleepy Wisconsin village of Livingston , which was about to become ground zero for the latest meteorite hunt . Livingston , with a population of 597 , was the town nearest to where the otherworldly bits were turning up . Soon , everyone wanted a piece of the action -- from internationally known experts to the locals , like 7-year-old Jackson McCluskey . Jackson , along with dozens of other students at Iowa Grant Elementary School in Livingston , learned about the meteors from geologists and meteorite-hunting experts at a school assembly . Later that day , the kids combed the school grounds for meteorites during recess . McCluskey found a rock that one of the experts confirmed was a meteorite , weighing 35 grams . He sold it to a collector , but they would n't say for how much . On average , prices for pieces of this particular space rock have been set at about $ 10 to $ 20 per gram , according to Farmer . He added that a meteorite 's worth can vary , depending on the amount of buzz surrounding an event and how much media attention has been devoted to it . It 's easy to compare it all to a mini gold rush . Most folks are n't hunting with the mere hopes of winning bragging rights . Brian Nodolf , who lives on a farm near Livingston , said his wife found a meteorite weighing about 100 grams . `` I 'm told it 's worth maybe a thousand dollars , '' Nodolf said . So far , about two dozen pieces had been found , one expert hunter said . But there 's no way of knowing for sure , since many do n't announce it when they do find one . But what do the residents think about the influx of people to their small town ? They 've welcomed them with open arms -- primarily because it 's a boost to the economy . Who needs a government stimulus when you 've got money falling from the sky ? `` We 've gotten business we never would have had , '' said Tom Brown , village president . `` I mean , who was going to come to Livingston ? It 's off the map . '' Tim Loeffelholz , owner of The Friendly Place , a local gas station and convenience store , says business is up by about 30 percent since folks started finding meteorites . `` It 's what we needed , a little boost , '' Loeffelholz said . `` It 's been great for the town , great for the whole area . '' His store has become a pseudo-trading post , where people looking for or wanting to sell meteorites have put their contact information on signs along the counter . If and when the Trocke family gets their hands on a meteorite , they say it wo n't be from a want ad . They 'll do it all on their own . As 11- year-old Connor put it , `` It 's a sense of pride to find one . ''
Livingston , Wisconsin , is the town nearest to the April 14 meteor strike . The sleepy village has seen an influx of meteor hunters . First-grader found 35-gram meteorite during recess , sold it for an undisclosed amount . The meteor fragments can sell for between $ 10 and $ 20 a gram .