Collectors are scrambling to buy rocks that are said to have fallen from Mars, which are reportedly fetching big bucks, as high as $11,000 to $22,500 per ounce. The biggest rock weighs over 2 pounds.

According to reports, the samples were bought by dealers, scientists, museums and universities even before official certification, and most of the supply have been sold.

"It's incredibly fresh. It's highly valuable for that reason," said Carl Agee, director of the Institute of Meteoritics and curator at the University of New Mexico. "This is a beauty. It's gorgeous."

Scientists have confirmed that the 15-pound rock which was collected in December in Morocco fell from Mars during a meteorite shower in July last year. A special committee of meteorite experts, including some NASA scientists, gave the confirmation based on rock's age and chemical signature.

The confirmation of the rock is only the fifth time in history that scientists have chemically confirmed Martian meteorites falling from the sky. The fireball was spotted in the sky six months ago but the rocks were discovered only last December on the ground in North Africa.

According to scientists, the rock offers an important opportunity to learn about Mars' potential for life since so far, no spacecraft has returned with samples from Mars. Thus, the only samples scientists can examine are those that fall to Earth through a meteorite shower.

Scientists have expressed hopes that NASA and the European Space Agency teams up in 2018 to send robotic spaceships to Mars that can bring back samples of rock and dirt.

"It's Christmas in January," said former NASA sciences chief Alan Stern, director of the Florida Space Institute at the University of Central Florida. "It's nice to have Mars sending samples to Earth, particularly when our pockets are too empty to go get them ourselves."