Four spherical metal balls have fallen from the sky in certain Gujarat villages in recent days. According to some analysts, they are most likely the wreckage of a Chinese rocket or fuel storage tanks of space launch vehicles.
The hollow metal spheres, each approximately 1.5 feet in diameter, dropped between May 12 and 13 in Anand district’s Dagjipura, Khambholaj, and Rampura villages, as well as Bhumel village in neighbouring Kheda district.
According to Anand’s Deputy Superintendent of Police BD Jadeja, no one was hurt by the items, which are now in the hands of the Anand police.
“Our preliminary investigation showed that these metal balls belonged to a spacecraft. We have chosen to approach the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) as well as the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad for additional investigation “Jadeja said.
In a tweet on May 12, US-based astronomer Jonathan McDowell stated that these metal spheres are most likely debris from the Chinese rocket Chang Zheng 3B, also known as CZ 3B.
According to him, the debris may have landed over Gujarat during the rocket’s “reentry.”
“The third stage from the Chang Zheng 3B series Y86 rocket, which launched the ZX-9B communications satellite in Sep 2021, reentered today around 0900-1200 UTC,” McDowell tweeted on May 12.
“The ultimate orbital characteristics of CZ-3B Y86 are undetermined due to its very elliptical orbit with a very low (100 km or so) perigee that changes fast due to drag. However, it looks to be a reasonable match for the reentry over Gujarat at 11:15 UTC on May 12, from which debris was discovered on the ground “He said.
BS Bhatia, a retired ISRO scientist, said that the metal balls may be fuel tanks used in rockets and satellites to hold hydrazine, a form of liquid fuel.
Typically, empty storage tanks on a rocket are designed to separate and fall to the ground once the fuel has been exhausted.
“These huge spheres might be hydrazine storage tanks. This is a common fuel that is mostly used to keep satellites in orbit.
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