SHILLONG, SEP 28 : An unidentified space object suspected to have fallen from the sky was recovered Tuesday from a flower bed of St Edmunds’ College here in Shillong. The mysterious object, somewhat resembling a propeller of some craft, is now in the custody of the police.
According to college authorities, the object was discovered by the college gardener this morning. “No one could tell at what time it fell, but it is heavy metal object which on impact created a crater in the flower bed,” Amit Mazumdar, a professor of St Edmund’s College said.
“We cannot really say what it is. But it is a very interesting piece,” S.K Jain, the intelligence chief of Meghalaya police, said.
The object, weighing about 20 kgs, has baffled the college authorities, who on discovering this mysterious metal immediately informed the police and concerned authorities.
There were speculations that the metal object could have been a part of the recent NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) which was reported to have disintegrated while making fiery entry into the earth’s atmosphere.
“We will examine the object to determine its origin. Hopefully by tomorrow we should have some inkling of what the object could,” S Rao, ISRO Space scientist said.
Rao said the defunct UARS satellite was to have fallen into the Pacific ocean, but there is doubt whether it did so or not. “We will be able confirm the identity of the object only after examining it,” he said.