A little over a month ago in late November, the attention of specialists and layman alike were drawn to the African country of Namibia. The Namibian government announced the uncovering of a small metal rounded object which in fact had apparently fallen from space. Since the item itself had actually fallen several weeks before the announcement, the federal government refrained from making the account public until they were able to identify whether or not the strange sphere was a danger to national security and safety. Having established that the mechanism was not a weapon or particularly deadly, the Namibian administration called for NASAs aid in identifying it.
The ball was spotted by a nearby farmer, several days after he and some other locals reported hearing various explosions. He noticed it some 60ft. from a modest crater (about 12in. deep and around 13ft. wide)., about 480 miles from the Namibian capital, Windhoek.
An image was published of the unfamiliar little device, and the report was quickly picked up by the world’s largest news agencies. Community forums and chat rooms were crammed with ‘pro’s’ spouting space facts and throwing out suggestions as hypothesis ran unrestrained on news websites and through the rest of the internet. Notions ran the gamut from the innovative to the preposterous: was the item a weapon? Could it perhaps be a research tool of some type dropped originating from a weather balloon? Most exciting of all, was the device man made in origin, or did it indicate at life beyond what we understand?
In all likelihood the simple truth is at once much simpler and more than somewhat tedious. Adrian Chen f Gawker has put forth the idea that the object is probably a fuel tank for holding hydrazine: the fuel widely used when firing unmanned rockets. While no official statement has been circulated about the exact nature of the item, a statement has been released to debunk the widespread speculation that this is the sign of some diminutive alien attack.
Police forensics director Paul Ludik stated that whilst the ball consists of an incredibly ‘sophisticated material‘ it is still clearly man-made. The explosions that the folks witnessed were very likely the sound of the device hitting the sound barrier while it fell, or failing that the noise of the ball’s actual collision. The police chief added that the device does not present any hazard. Outlining why the Namibian authorities felt justified in delaying the posting the story, police deputy inspector general Viho Hifiindaka said, “It isn’t an explosive system, but instead hollow, but we had to study all this first.”
He proceeded to state, while yet unidentified, was absolutely a metallic alloy that’s ‘known to man’. The devices structure has been reported to be identical to the compound utilized in the making of most outer space vehicles, putting to rest any suggestions the device might be evidence of alien existence. Even though the distinct vehicle that launched the device may never be identified, it can be said for certain the device is distinctly man-made.
This story came on the heels of a somewhat more pressing statement by NASA regarding the loss of one of its satellites at the beginning of the year. The satellite separated and broken up down to Earth somewhere south of the equator.
