* Astronomy

Villagers in Dotito, Mount Darwin, Zimbabwe, were left dumbfounded last week and are living in fear after they discovered a black stone, which is believed to have fallen from the outer space.

The meteorite was 21cm long and 13cm wide, weighing about 4,1kg.

It has since been taken to Forensic Scientists Laboratory at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in Harare for further investigations.

These types of stones fall to the earth and contain grains of nickel-iron and metal.

Mashonaland Central police spokesperson Inspector Michael Munyikwa said several villagers from Chaworeka Village heard noise like that of a helicopter last Monday at around 5pm.

"The villagers heard some noise, which resembled that of a helicopter, coming from the eastern direction and the noise was followed by clouds of dust - Inspector Michael Munyikwa.

Inspector Munyikwa said the stone fell on the ground a few minutes later and about metres away from a Mr Jeriko Muzanembi’s homestead.
He was cutting some poles in a field when the incident occurred.
Mr Muzanembi and other villagers teamed up and went to investigate and discovered that it was an object, which looked like a stone.

"The impact of the stone cut 15cm deep into the earth when it landed on the ground and the villagers discovered that it was an object which looked like a stone. It was black in colour and had white particles inside" - Inspector Michael Munyikwa.

A report was made to the police who informed the forensic scientists, geologists and the army. It was taken to Dotito Police Station and later, to Harare.

According to some scientists, the stone could have changed its size, colour and weight as it was falling to the ground, as a result of high temperatures, which could have been more than 2 000 Degrees Celsius.

Police said after completing their investigations with the help of some experts, the stone would be taken to the National Museum.
A meteorite is a small extra-terrestrial body that reaches the earth’s surface. While in space these bodies are called meteoroids and they are called meteors after entering earth’s atmosphere but before reaching the surface. These are small asteroids, approximately boulder sized or less.

When it enters the atmosphere, air drag and friction cause the body to heat up and emit light, thus forming a fireball or shooting star.
Throughout the ages, meteorites were venerated as sacred objects by different cultures and ancient civilisations.
The spectacular fall of a meteorite, accompanied by light and sound phenomena, such as falling stars, smoke, thunder, and sonic booms, has always kindled the human imagination, evoking fear and awe in everyone who witnesses such an event.
For obvious reasons, the remnants of these incidents, the actual meteorites, were often kept as sacred stones or objects of power.
They were worshiped, and used in their respective religious ceremonies.

Source