There’s been a big twist in the New England treasure hunt that captivated much of the internet, with a new golden treasure currently hiding out in the woods.

The original Project Skydrop prize was a gold statue worth more than $25,000, but it was found last week by a Boston meteorologist. But there was a secondary, and more valuable prize that went with the statue: a bounty that grew to be $87,600 along with the number of people who paid to get clues in the treasure hunt.

That prize money was originally supposed to be paid out to the winner in Bitcoin, but the game’s designers have come up with a new way to deliver it — through the new treasure hunt, which appears to be ongoing, for a pot of gold coins.

People are searching for a golden statue worth more than $25,000.

Dan Leondard, the meteorologist who found the gold statue, apparently had first dibs on solving the puzzle by finding the statue, but the clues have now been released.

“There is now $87,600 worth of gold sitting in a secret wooded location, waiting for the the winner to find. He’s got a hard puzzle to solve first, though. But the puzzle has been published to all members on our website, so the game is still afoot,” the game’s founders, Jason Rohrer and Tom Bailey, explained in a email to media Friday.

On the Project Skydrop website, a message teases of the gold lost in New England’s woods, “WE ARE PRETTY SURE ONLY ONE MAN CAN FIGURE OUT WHERE IT IS…”

Leonard acknowledged the new treasure hunt in a video he released this week as part of the bounty-claiming process.

“Let’s figure out how to find this rainbow, get to the end of it, get that pot of gold and, uh, wrap this up,” he said, also noting that he plans to use some of the winnings to give back, including to the Project Skydrop community.

Live trail cameras set up, as with the first statute, to monitor the prize have already tracked wildlife walking by the pot of gold. No one has claimed it as of late Friday night.

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — An ancient comet discovered last year is passing by Earth, and Pittsburghers may get a chance to see it if conditions are right.

KDKA-TV went to Pittsburgh astronomers and astronomy lovers to find out how to catch a glimpse of the rare astronomical event.

This year has been full of cosmic reasons to look up. We put on our protective glasses to view a total solar eclipse. We were captivated by the northern lights more than once. We’ve even been dazzled by meteor showers.

“Now we have a comet,” said astronomer Diane Turnshek, a physics lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University and instructor in the University of Pittsburgh’s Physics and Astronomy Department.

“If I get to see the comet, it’s just one more this year before the year is out for celestial events,” said astronomer Simonetta Frittelli, a Duquesne University physics associate professor.

The comet, known as C-2023-A3 aka Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, will be closest to Earth on Oct. 13. Then it’ll put on a show after sunset each day through the end of October. The best time to view the comet will be between Oct. 14-24.

“It should be visible to your naked eye in the dark sight, possible to your naked eye here in Pittsburgh, and certainly with binoculars and a small telescope,” said Kerry Handron, Allegheny Observatory’s special events and outreach coordinator.

Handron said using binoculars or a telescope will be very helpful, and you can also see the icy dust ball by taking pictures on your phone using night mode/longer exposure times.

“The comet is going to be fuzzy. It’s going to have a tail, maybe two tails. That would be exciting, and we’ll find it in the west,” Handron said.

“Right after sunset looking west, maybe a little south, you should see the comet right as the glare of the sun goes away, and a coma, the dirty snowball part has a big, long trail, which is always pointed away from the sun,” Turnshek said.

“It’s close to the sun so you have to look westward when the sun goes down, and wait a little bit,” Frittelli said.

As the comet moves away from the sun, it’ll get higher in the sky, making it easier to see. But it will get fainter each day. Frittelli said it’s transforming to see a comet.

“The comet just hangs. It hangs in the night sky. It’s just like floating there. It doesn’t move. It’s beautiful. I’ve seen pictures of it taken in other parts of the world already, and it’s beautiful,” Frittelli added.

And if you don’t see this rare astronomical event, you’re out of luck.

“This one comes about every once every 80,000 years. Might seem like a lot to you, but the Neanderthals were walking the Earth at the time so they might have seen it,” Frittelli said.

Turnshek said the ancient comet may never come back.

“It may just get ejected from the solar system,” she said.

“People in the Southern Hemisphere got a chance to see it, but now is our chance to get to see it after sunset. So many things in the sky are exciting. But there haven’t been that many great comets in recent history,” Turnshek added.

“To say that Mark made an impact wherever he went or on whoever, it’s for real.”

Michael Brotz spent some time Friday sharing how his brother-in-law, Mark Anthony Palumbo Jr., made that impact. One way was meeting people through his business, Madison Avenue Salon in Madison, where he was a part owner and a stylist. He was also a firefighter and owner of MAP Auto Detailing.

“He kind of had his hand in a few things but everything he did, he did it with passion,” Brotz said. The two were firefighters together and were close friends. Brotz eventually married Palumbo’s sister, something Brotz joked didn’t come easy at first, but their family bond grew stronger.

News of his death Wednesday spread beyond the family and made its way through town.

“I’m sure he’s going to – the family will – get a lot of support because his father is a businessman here so they all know the family,” said Earl Carta, a longtime resident of Madison.

Palumbo died Wednesday evening on I-95 in Westbrook. He was driving his prized 2014 red Ford Mustang when he was hit by a wrong-way driver. Troy Bree, of Groton, is charged with OUI and reckless driving.

“The biggest thing is that driving under the influence of alcohol or substances is intolerable,” Brotz said. “People really need to think about the damage that they can cause and the lives that they can change in the blink of an eye. And that’s exactly what happened on Wednesday night.”

“I just want to see him prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he added. “I don’t have a lot of forgiveness in my heart right now.”

The Palumbo family is working through levels of grief over Mark’s death. There’s a numbness for some, and others say laughter is helping the tight family support each other.

“I just loved Mark and I loved spending time with him, and I loved the person he was and how he cared for people.”

His brother-in-law says Palumbo’s love grew, and he softened a bit, when he and his wife Amanda welcomed their two girls Carina and Mia.

“Those girls just brought him so much joy and happiness it changed his life in a way that I don’t even think he expected that it could,” Brotz said.

And those are thoughts they hold onto as they try to imagine life without him. There is an outpouring of support for the family on social media. Brotz says it’s not something they expected, but they’re finding comfort in all the messages they’re reading.

“He was a gift to the world. I can’t really say more than that.”