Slightly over a month ago at the end of November, the undivided
attention of specialists and layman alike were interested in the African
country of Namibia. The Namibian government announced the discovery of a
small metallic rounded object which had apparently fallen from space.
Since the object itself had actually fallen several weeks before the
announcement, the government refrained from making the actual story
public until they could identify whether or not the enigmatic ball was a
hazard to national security. Having determined that the instrument was
not a weapon or especially deadly, the Namibian authorities asked for
NASAs help with identifying it.
The ball was found by a native farmer, a few days after he and several other locals described hearing various explosions. He discovered it some 60ft. away from a modest crater (about 12in. deep and around 13ft. in width)., about 480 miles from the Namibian capital, Windhoek.
A picture was circulated of the abnormal little object, and the story was swiftly grabbed by the world's largest news bureaus. Community forums and chat rooms were crammed with 'industry professionals' spouting space statistics and throwing out suggestions as hypothesis ran uncontrolled on news web sites and throughout the entire internet. Notions ran the field from the thoughtful to the ridiculous: was the object a weapon? Could it perhaps be a scientific tool of some kind dropped coming from a weather balloon? Most exciting of all, was the device man made in origin, or did it hint at existence beyond everything we understand?
Probably the truth is at once incredibly easier and more than a little tedious. Adrian Chen f Gawker has put forth the theory that the device is probably a fuel tank for holding hydrazine: the fuel widely used when launching unmanned rockets. While no official statement has been published on the exact nature of the sphere, a statement has been issued to debunk the uncontrolled speculation that this is the sign of some diminutive alien incursion.
Police forensics director Paul Ludik stated that while the ball is manufactured out of an extremely 'sophisticated material' it was still definitely man-made. The explosions that the people heard were very likely the noise of the ball breaking the sound barrier while it fell, or failing that the sound of the ball's specific crash. The Chief of Police added that the new device doesn't present any threat. Talking about why the Namibian officials felt validated in delaying the revealing the story, police deputy inspector general Viho Hifiindaka said, "It isn't an explosive device, but instead hollow, but we had to analyze all this first."
He proceeded to state that, while yet unknown, was absolutely a metallic alloy that is certainly 'known to man'. The balls composition is in fact stated to be similar to the compound applied to the building of most space instruments, putting to rest any thoughts that this sphere may be evidence of alien existence. Although the particular vehicle that dropped the item may never be identified, it can be said beyond doubt that the device is definitely man-made.
This situation came on the heels of a somewhat more pressing statement by NASA concerning the loss of one of its satellites earlier this year. The satellite broke up and crashed down to Earth someplace south of the equator.
The ball was found by a native farmer, a few days after he and several other locals described hearing various explosions. He discovered it some 60ft. away from a modest crater (about 12in. deep and around 13ft. in width)., about 480 miles from the Namibian capital, Windhoek.
A picture was circulated of the abnormal little object, and the story was swiftly grabbed by the world's largest news bureaus. Community forums and chat rooms were crammed with 'industry professionals' spouting space statistics and throwing out suggestions as hypothesis ran uncontrolled on news web sites and throughout the entire internet. Notions ran the field from the thoughtful to the ridiculous: was the object a weapon? Could it perhaps be a scientific tool of some kind dropped coming from a weather balloon? Most exciting of all, was the device man made in origin, or did it hint at existence beyond everything we understand?
Probably the truth is at once incredibly easier and more than a little tedious. Adrian Chen f Gawker has put forth the theory that the device is probably a fuel tank for holding hydrazine: the fuel widely used when launching unmanned rockets. While no official statement has been published on the exact nature of the sphere, a statement has been issued to debunk the uncontrolled speculation that this is the sign of some diminutive alien incursion.
Police forensics director Paul Ludik stated that while the ball is manufactured out of an extremely 'sophisticated material' it was still definitely man-made. The explosions that the people heard were very likely the noise of the ball breaking the sound barrier while it fell, or failing that the sound of the ball's specific crash. The Chief of Police added that the new device doesn't present any threat. Talking about why the Namibian officials felt validated in delaying the revealing the story, police deputy inspector general Viho Hifiindaka said, "It isn't an explosive device, but instead hollow, but we had to analyze all this first."
He proceeded to state that, while yet unknown, was absolutely a metallic alloy that is certainly 'known to man'. The balls composition is in fact stated to be similar to the compound applied to the building of most space instruments, putting to rest any thoughts that this sphere may be evidence of alien existence. Although the particular vehicle that dropped the item may never be identified, it can be said beyond doubt that the device is definitely man-made.
This situation came on the heels of a somewhat more pressing statement by NASA concerning the loss of one of its satellites earlier this year. The satellite broke up and crashed down to Earth someplace south of the equator.
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