The Iron Man statue is a , sculpture. The figure is adorned with a counterclockwise-rotation Buddhist
swastika
The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...
.
Sensational newspaper articles presented it in fresh and cheerful headlines under the "Science" section as a Buddha with extraterrestrial origin and a
Nazi history. Relationships with extraterrestrials have been a key issue for
Nazi occultists and Tibetan esotericists. Albeit claims that the statue may have been acquired by the
SS expedition to Tibet 1938–1939, evidence of the statue's provenance was never presented. The statue was kept in a private collection in Germany until it was auctioned in 2007 into hands in Vienna, inaccessible to further study.
The material has been dated to the time of the
Chinga meteorite
The Chinga meteorite is an iron meteorite. It is structurally an ataxite with very rare kamacite Lamella (materials), lamella. The meteoric iron is a part of the lamella taenite. The total chemical composition is 82.8% iron, 16.6% nickel, and the ...
, which fell near eastern
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
and
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago. Elmar Buchner, the researcher who had determined the statue's composition has said, "If we are right that it was made in the
Bon
Bon or Bön (), also known as Yungdrung Bon (, ), is the indigenous Tibetan religion which shares many similarities and influences with Tibetan Buddhism.Samuel 2012, pp. 220–221. It initially developed in the tenth and eleventh centuries but ...
culture in the eleventh century, it is absolutely priceless and absolutely unique worldwide."
But even the authors of the meteorite theory expressed several concerns and remarked that their assessment of it being carved in the eleventh century is mere speculation.
The
Buddhologist
Buddhist studies, also known as Buddhology, is the academic study of Buddhism. The term ''Buddhology'' was coined in the early 20th century by the Unitarian minister Joseph Estlin Carpenter to mean the "study of Buddhahood, the nature of the Bud ...
from
Dongguk University
Dongguk University () is a private university in Jung District, Seoul, South Korea. A top-tier university acknowledged locally in Korea. It is one of the few Buddhist-affiliated universities in the world, and is a member of the International Asso ...
, Achim Bayer, published the widely acclaimed article ''The Lama Wearing Trousers'' examining twelve stylistic characteristics which, in his view, indicated the statue was extremely unlikely to have originated in Tibet. He estimated the date of the statue at somewhere between 1920 and 1970. In addition, he proposed "that the statue was produced in Germany either for the general antique and curio market, or even for the lucrative market of
Nazi memorabilia
Nazi memorabilia are items produced during the height of Nazism in Germany, particularly the years between 1933 and 1945. Nazi memorabilia includes a variety of objects from the material culture of Nazi Germany, especially those featuring swastik ...
."

The German historian and
Tibetologist
Tibetology () refers to the study of things related to Tibet, including its history, religion, language, culture, politics and the collection of Tibetan articles of historical, cultural and religious significance. The last may mean a collection of ...
Isrun Engelhardt (1941–2022) from the
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...
tracked down the origin of the sculpture and largely deciphered its secret. She published her academic essay ''The Strange Case of the "Buddha from Space"'' in 2017 in the specialist magazine "The Revue d'Études Tibétaines". Isrun convincingly argued that the statue had most probably been designed and made for the eccentric Russian orientalist and painter
Nicholas Roerich
Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (), better known as Nicholas Roerich (; October 9, 1874 – December 13, 1947), was a Russian painter, writer, archaeologist, theosophist, philosopher, and public figure. In his youth he was influenced by Russ ...
(1874–1947). Roerichs painting "''The Order of Rigden Jyepo''", which depicts the mythological
Shambhala King, who, according to prophecies, will engulf the world in an
apocalyptic war may have served as a template for the sculpture. Roerich claimed to be the
incarnation
Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It is the Conception (biology), conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic form of a god. It is used t ...
of Rigden Jyepo. Roerich even described himself as the ″''coming king of Shambhala''″ in a letter to the
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣 识一切 瓦齐尔达喇 达赖 喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...
. In
Darjeeling
Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...
he had magnificent, traditional robes made for him, which he occasionally wore. Roerich planned to enter Tibet as Rigden Jyepo, the 25th King of Shambhala. Engelhardt concluded: "One can assume from these arguments that the meteorite statue portrays Nicholas Roerich as Rigden Jyepo or Reta Rigden, and thus the main mystery appears to have been solved."
The German meteorologist Elmar Buchner, who examined the statue in 2008, told the southern German newspaper Waiblinger Kreiszeitung, he neither is willing to confirm nor to deny the way of the statue into his hands, which Isrun Engelhardt described in her above cited publication. Engelhardt asserted that the owner was a Russian called Igor Kaledin, who in 2007 came in contact with Buchner via a Russian friend and interpreter in Stuttgart. Kaledin stated, he lives in Australia, Engelhardt wrote, and wanted to let Buchner examine and analyze the material of the statue. Buchner commentated in the Waiblinger Kreiszeitung: "The owner of the statue wanted to stay anonymous, but told me that he purchased the statue at an auction." Buchner further said: "The man who pre-owned the statue before that person is said to having inherited the statue from his father and that it once had been brought to Munich as part of the artefact pool of the SS expedition to Tibet 1938–1939." In the end, in 2009, the Russian owner sold the statue to Gero Kurat, at that time geologist at the "Naturhistorisches Museum" in Vienna. Kurat passed away in the same year, but the Museum confirmed to the Waiblinger Kreiszeitung, that the statue should still be in the private property of the Kurat's family in Vienna. Buchner said, "lastly it had been offered to me for a seven digit amount of money, which I refused to be too expensive."
See also
*
Glossary of meteoritics
This is a glossary of terms used in meteoritics, the science of meteorites.
#
* 2 Pallas – an asteroid from the asteroid belt and one of the likely parent bodies of the CR meteorites.
* 4 Vesta – second-largest asteroid in the asteroid bel ...
*
Thokcha
''Thokcha'' (; also alternatively ) are Tibetan amulets which are said to have fallen from the sky in traditional Tibetan folklore. These are traditionally believed to contain a magical, protective power comparable to Tibetan dzi beads. Most '' ...
, the Tibetan use of meteorite metal in ritual objects
References
{{Meteorites
11th-century sculptures
Bon
Buddhist sculpture
Iron sculptures
Meteorites in culture
Tibetan art