Object that fell from the sky was a meteorite: Scientists

Scientists on Wednesday said the object that fell from the sky in Kasauli village in Muzaffarnagar on November 2 is a meteorite.

The meteorite, now deposited in the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police (Muzaffarnagar) for safekeeping, would be brought to the Geological Survey of India laboratory in Dehra Dun for further examination, U P Gupta of the GSI said.

The GSI is the custodian of any unidentified object that falls from the sky into Indian territory.

Gupta and his colleague Kamaudi Joshi examined the 17.9 kg black-coloured meteorite at Muzaffarnagar said a preliminary investigation suggested it is made of iron and some other elements. Its surface was burnt due to the friction generated when it entered the Earth's atmosphere. The chiselled portion inside is grey in colour.

The meteorite is 29cm in diameter and 11cm thick. It had created a 15-inch deep crater when it landed in Kasauli village.

A three-member team of scientists from IIT, Roorkee have already collected samples from the impact site for examination. "Our team would examine the object and study the heating and cushion effects of the fall," Brahm Prakash, who heads the Earth Science Department at the institute, told PTI.