On May 12, pieces of suspected debris ‘fell from space’ at three places in Gujarat – Bhalej, Khambholj and Rampura. People still remain confused and curious about this. A team of Forensic Science Laboratory is engaged in its investigation. Come on, let’s take a look at what we’ve found so far, how it differs from the debris of meteorites.
What do we know about the wreck?
According to the local police, the first big black metal ball, weighing about five kilograms, fell “from the sky” in Anand’s Bhalej village on May 12 at around 4.45 pm. After this two identical pieces fell in two other villages- Khambholj and Rampura. Three villages are located within a radius of 15 km, of which a piece is falling in Chimanbhai’s field. Luckily no one was injured.
On May 14, a similar ball-shaped debris was found in Chaklasi village of Anand, about 8 km from Bhalej. However, Indian officials have not issued any statement to ascertain what it could be. Astronomer Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics tweeted that it could be the re-entry of the Chang Zheng 3b serial Y86, which is China’s Orbital Launch Vehicle. McDowell said the estimate is based on data from the US Space Force which monitors it. According to this, it is a fact that on that day (May 12) the only re-entry was done from somewhere near India.
‘Atmospheric pull caused orbit change’
McDowell says the estimated path was a few hundred km north of the villages, but that it is within uncertainties for this particular object because its orbit was more uncertain than usual. He said, “The problem is that the orbit was changing rapidly due to atmospheric drag. So, the last Space Force orbit we had was several hours old. A further launch to that orbit is reliable in terms of its path through space.” But the position of the rocket along its track is uncertain.”
Gujarat’s Anand District Collector MY Daxini said the Forensic Science Laboratory team is examining the samples and is in touch with the District Collectorate Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad and the Space Applications Center (SAC) of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). It is being ascertained whether this debris belongs to a satellite or rocket.