The Unexplainable Space Ball: Namibia’s Extraterrestrial Rubble Revealed

by Tony Sumpters

A little over a month ago in late November, the special attention of researchers and layman alike were attracted to the African country of Namibia. The Namibian government announced the finding of a compact metallic circular object which in fact had supposedly fallen from space. Whilst the item itself had actually fallen several weeks before the announcement, the federal government refrained from making the actual story public until they were able to determine whether or not the strange ball was a threat to national security and safety. Having identified that the machine was not a weapon or particularly deadly, the Namibian representatives asked for NASAs aid in identifying it.

The device was found by a native farmer, several days after he and a few other locals described hearing a few explosions. He noticed it some 60ft. away from a modest crater (about 12in. deep and around 13ft. wide)., about 480 miles from the Namibian capital, Windhoek.

An image was circulated of the abnormal little device, and the details was quickly picked up by the world’s largest news bureaus. Discussion boards and chat rooms were brimming with ‘pro's’ spouting space facts and spreading suggestions as speculation ran unrestrained on news web sites and all through the rest of the internet. Hypotheses ran the field from the thoughtful to the foolish: was the device a weapon? Could it perhaps be a research instrument of some kind dropped coming from a weather balloon? Most fascinating of all, was the device earthly in origin, or did it indicate at existence beyond whatever we recognize?

More often than not the reality is at once incredibly easier and more than a little boring. Adrian Chen f Gawker has come up with the idea that the subject is probably a fuel tank for storing hydrazine: the fuel regularly used when launching unmanned rockets. While no official statement has been published on the exact nature of the sphere, a press release has been issued to debunk the uncontrolled conjecture that this is the sign of some diminutive alien invasion.

Police forensics director Paul Ludik announced that even though the ball is constructed of a very ‘sophisticated material‘ it is still plainly 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 particular impact. The police chief added that the new sphere does not pose any threat. Explaining why the Namibian officials felt validated in waiting the posting the situation, police deputy inspector general Viho Hifiindaka said, “It isn't an explosive unit, but rather hollow, but we had to investigate all this first.”

He went on to suggest, while yet unknown, was absolutely a metallic alloy that is certainly ‘known to man’. The items structure is in fact reported to be similar to the compound used in the making of most space instruments, putting to rest any ideas the device could be evidence of alien life. While the specific vehicle that launched the sphere may never be identified, it can be said beyond doubt that the ball is definitely man-made.

This situation came on the heels of a somewhat more demanding report by NASA concerning the loss of one of its satellites earlier this year. The satellite separated and crashed down to Earth in an area south of the equator.

Article submitted Tuesday, January 03, 2012 & read 5 times.

Tony Sumptors is an author with special knowledge about space. He can also help you be a better astronomer and get your space facts straight.

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