* Astronomy

Schaefer Expedition Statue was of 'Vaisravana' Not of 'Buddha'

In the last week of September 2012 the Associated Press, BBC reports published in different sites and News Papers on the ancient Buddhist statue weighing about 10.6 kilograms and 9 inches height that the Nazi's Great Schaefer expedition found at Chinese-Tibetan boarder in 1938 stated to be manufactured with that of meteorite element and other details revealed by Dr.Elmar Buchner of University of Stuttgart were rather confusing, as they have related the statue to Buddhism - probably for not having sufficient information on the "Indian Sanatana Dharma" or "Ancient (Hindu) Vedic culture" and its background dated back 'Kritayuga' (the genesis period of Universe billions of years ago).
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Title: Buddha from space - An ancient object of art made of a Chinga iron meteorite fragment
Authors: Buchner, Elmar; Schmieder, Martin; Kurat, Gero; Brandstntter, Franz; Kramar, Utz; Ntaflos, Theo; Kröchert, Jörg

The fall of meteorites has been interpreted as divine messages by multitudinous cultures since prehistoric times, and meteorites are still adored as heavenly bodies. Stony meteorites were used to carve birds and other works of art; jewellery and knifes were produced of meteoritic iron for instance by the Inuit society. We here present an approximately 10.6 kg Buddhist sculpture (the "iron man") made of an iron meteorite, which represents a particularity in religious art and meteorite science. The specific contents of the crucial main (Fe, Ni, Co) and trace (Cr, Ga, Ge) elements indicate an ataxitic iron meteorite with high Ni contents (approximately 16 wt%) and Co (approximately 0.6 wt%) that was used to produce the artefact. In addition, the platinum group elements (PGEs), as well as the internal PGE ratios, exhibit a meteoritic signature. The geochemical data of the meteorite generally match the element values known from fragments of the Chinga ataxite (ungrouped iron) meteorite strewn field discovered in 1913. The provenance of the meteorite as well as of the piece of art strongly points to the border region of eastern Siberia and Mongolia, accordingly. The sculpture possibly portrays the Buddhist god Vaisravana and might originate in the Bon culture of the eleventh century. However, the ethnological and art historical details of the "iron man" sculpture, as well as the timing of the sculpturing, currently remain speculative.

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