Suspected meteorite falls from sky in Numaligarh

A Correspondent

Numaligarh/ Guwahati, Nov 13: A stone-like object, suspected to be a meteorite, fell from the sky at Bharalipar of Mohuramukh under Kamargaon police station of Golaghat, creating a sensation in the area.

The incident took place at around 2 pm on Friday.

People saw the "stone" shower fall from the sky, creating an explosion as it hit the ground in a paddy field.

The Kamargaon police have seized the "stone" weighing about 13 kgs. The seized the stone is 10x10x9 cm in size.

Golaghat additiol superintendent of police Numal Mahato said the object, though resembling a stone, is apparently made up of metallic substances.

"The stone created a crater of five to seven feet as it hit the ground. The explosion also generated smoke," said an eye-witness.

Police have sent the "stone" to the forensic laboratory for tests.

Small pieces of space debris -- usually parts of comets or asteroids -- that are on a collision course with the Earth are called meteoroids. They become meteors when they enter the Earth's atmosphere. Most meteors burn up in the atmosphere, but if they survive the frictiol heating and strike the surface of the Earth they are called meteorites.

Meteors typically cause sizeable sonic booms when they enter the atmosphere because they are traveling so much faster than the speed of sound.

The Hoba meteorite in mibia is the largest known intact meteorite - 2.7 metres long and 60 tonnes weight. There are more than 38,660 well-documented meteorite finds in the world.