A large metallic ball fell out of the sky on a remote
grassland in Namibia, prompting baffled authorities to contact NASA
and the European space agency.
The hollow ball with a circumference of 1.1 metres (43 inches)
was found near a village in the north of the country some 750
kilometres (480 miles) from the capital Windhoek, according to
police forensics director Paul Ludik.
Locals had heard several small explosions a few days beforehand,
he said.
With a diameter of 35 centimetres (14 inches), the ball has a
rough surface and appears to consist of "two halves welded
together".
It was made of a "metal alloy known to man" and weighed six
kilogrammes (13 pounds), said Ludik.
It was found 18 metres from its landing spot, a hole 33
centimetres deep and 3.8 meters wide.
Several such balls have dropped in southern Africa, Australia
and Latin America in the past twenty years, authorities found in an
Internet search.
The sphere was discovered mid-November, but authorities first
did tests before announcing the find.
Police deputy inspector general Vilho Hifindaka concluded the
sphere did not pose any danger.
"It is not an explosive device, but rather hollow, but we had to
investigate all this first," he said.
