The Planet Earth: Lesotho Poltergeist was a Meteorite

A meteor streaks through Earth's sky click to enlarge SEDS Nine Planets image

Residents of the village of Boqate Ha Sofonia in Lesotho, an enclave of South Africa, thought that ghosts were after them when things began to rattle their roofs, according to a BBC report.

First, people across the country heard a loud noise in the sky. Then, a large stone smashed into a villager's kitchen, breaking a plastic container. She immediately blamed a thokolosi – a poltergeist – and sprinkled holy water on the stone and around the house. No more stones fell.

Another resident kept the stones that fell on her roof to show that it actually happened. Such samples later showed scientists that the ghostly outbreak of mysterious rocks actually had been caused by a meteor shower.

A National University of Lesotho team of investigators asked local residents to retrieve some samples. Schoolchildren and others collected more than 400 of the rocks, weighing from just a few ounces to more than a pound.

The university researchers were able to connect the falling rocks with a huge rock far beyond Earth &ndash an asteroid in deep space. That big object may weigh a ton or more and probably has been circling the Sun for some 4.6 billion years.

When its path through the Solar System intersected the path of Earth, some of the rock's debris entered our atmosphere. One of those pieces, now called the Thuathe meteorite, exploded as it hit the atmosphere at speeds up to 70,000 mph. The explosion resulted in the thousands of smaller pieces which fell on nine villages in Lesotho.

To learn more about meteorites:

Lesotho CIA World Factbook Lesotho Resources African Studies Center, UPenn Meteor caused Lesotho 'poltergeist' BBC Meteor and Poltergeist Lesotho Daily Committee for the Scientific Investigation    of Claims of the Paranormal    Poltergeist debunked - Skeptical Inquirer American Association for Critical Scientific    Investigation into Claimed Hauntings    Poltergeist debunked - AACSICH Astronomes Amateurs du Luxembourg AAL The Daily Grail TDG Meteorite impact 'saved Christianity' BBC Constantine c.274-337

Meteors, Meteorites and Impacts SEDS Nine Planets Asteroid Comet Impact Hazards Website NASA Near-Earth Object Program NASA Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking NASA Near Earth Objects Information Centre U.K. Evidence of second huge meteor impact Scotsman The discovery of the Sirente crater field Impact Crater Found In Italy Meteorites Recovered Far Shores News Turkmenistan News Net Guide to Turkmenistan Lonely Planet Perspectives on Central Asia

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