2 meteoritelike objects fall in Muz’nagar village
District magistrate says the stones will be sent to IISc Bangalore for analysis
MUZAFFARANAGAR : Two hot embers fell from the sky in Kasauli village in Charthawal area of Muzaffarnagar at around 12.30 am on Thursday which the villagers claimed to be meteorites. On getting the information lekhpal Akash took both the stones in his possession.
MUZAFFARANAGAR: Two hot embers fell from the sky in Kasauli village in Charthawal area of Muzaffarnagar at around 12.30 am on Thursday which the villagers claimed to be meteorites.
On getting the information, sub-divisional magistrate, Sadar, Kumar Dharmendra sent lekhpal Akash to the village who took both the stones in his possession.
District magistrate, Muzaffarnagar, Rajeev Sharma said: “Both the objects resembled quartz in appearance but their exact nature will be ascertained after proper analysis.”
“The stones will be sent to the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) in Bangalore for analysis,” he added.
Mamchand Chauhan, a farmer in Kasauli said he and his brother Sukhpal resided near the bus stand with their families. “Our houses are separated by a common wall. On Wednesday night, heavy rainfall started at around 11.30 pm which continued for about 40 minutes. Power supply got disrupted due to the rain after which we decided to sleep outside,” he said.
He said after some time Sukhpal saw two embers falling near our house with a loud sound.
“Both the stones were very hot and white in colour. Its outer surface had, however, turned black and brown perhaps due to overheating,” Mamchand said. Though he could not give the exact dimension of the stones, he said its weight might have been around 200-250 grams each.
He said villagers also rushed to their house after hearing the sound and claimed the embers could be pieces of a meteorite.
In November 2003, a big black-coloured meteorite had fallen in Kasuli village.
The then SSP Navneet Sikera had sent the meteorite for testing.
The meteorite was 29cm in diameter and 11cm thick. It had created a 15-inch deep crater when it landed in the village. In 2009, two meteorites were found in Karimpur village of the district.
A meteor is the flash of light that we see in the night sky when a small chunk of interplanetary debris burns up as it passes through the atmosphere. The debris is called a meteoroid. If any part of a meteoroid survives the fall through the atmosphere and lands on earth, it is called a meteorite.
Generally, meteorites range from the size of a pebble to 100 kilograms or more. VASISTHA BHARDWAJ
(WITH PTI INPUTS)