On June 19, a mysterious fireball screeched across the skies of Sanchore, Rajasthan, in India during night time, and upon landing, this space body created a crater measuring 2-3 feet. Residents in the area reported hearing a huge blast, and after checking the area of impact, they found a huge stone.
A meteorite caused the impact?
After locating the huge stone in the Gayathri Chowk area, residents soon informed the nearby police station. A team headed by Bhupendra Yadav, the sub-divisional officer at Sanchore also rushed to the spot and analyzed the space rock. Initial analysis revealed that this space rock weighs more than 2.8 kilograms, and experts speculated that it could be most probably a meteorite fallen from the skies.
Experts have now cordoned the area where the object has fallen, and the space object has been now taken to a safe place. Authorities will soon send the space rock to Delhi for further research.
This is not the first time that a meteorite hit is happening in Rajasthan. In February 2020, another space rock hit the sky in the Alwar region, and analysis revealed that the space object was a meteorite from deep space.
Interesting. A 2.78 kg #meteorite-like object fell in Sanchor area in Jalore yesterday.
— Naveed Trumboo IRS (@NaveedIRS) June 20, 2020
Infact, few months back in Feb, there was another meteorite incident in #Rajasthan in Alwar and before that in July 2019 in Nangla Kasota village. Video of February & yesterday's incident. pic.twitter.com/uUaoDlicIE
Threats from deep space continue
Several top space experts believe that earth will be bombarded by asteroids and meteorites regularly, and sometimes, large space rocks may hit the blue planet causing massive devastation everywhere. Top space expert Dr Iain McDonald believes that asteroid impacts that resulted in the extinction of dinosaurs are not confined to the past, and it will happen in the future too.
To combat these threats from space, NASA is developing a planetary defense weapon to deflect incoming asteroids that may pose a threat to the existence of the earth. However, some space experts argue that nuking an asteroid could be the only option to protect the earth from deep space impacts. But nuking asteroids could cause radioactive rain which will cause potential harm to life on earth.
