CNN reported on Thursday that an alleged meteorite landed in a rice paddy in an east Indian village, according to local authorities.
The rock plummeted from the sky and hit the field on Wednesday. According to the farmers, the rock was around the size of a football and weighed about 13-kilograms.
पटना स्थित 1 अणे मार्ग के ‘संकल्प’ में मधुबनी के लौकही अंचल के ग्राम महादेवा में मिले संभावित उल्का पिण्ड का अवलोकन करते हुए।https://t.co/1L4eoagkfJ pic.twitter.com/DA9eL5rp28
— Nitish Kumar (@NitishKumar) July 24, 2019
Observers from the village saw a brown object falling into a rice paddy, causing them to flee the scene as the meteorite crashed into the field leaving a gust of smoke, leaving a large crater.
Shirsat Kapil Ashok, the magistrate for Madhubani district, spoke to Agence France Press (AFP), saying that "The farmers were working in the paddy field when this heavy rock fell from the sky with a very loud noise."
The workers later returned to the area to obtain the rock from the crater it had created.
Ashok also repeated apparent claims by the villagers that the rock had "magnetic properties".
While Indian scientists are currently looking into whether or not the find was in fact a meteorite, NASA have since disputed the claim.
India has had a history of meteor landings. In 2016, India's Tamil Nadu state authorities claimed that a meteorite killed a bus driver.
