Object from outer space creates scare in Punjab

Sangrur, Aug 3: A farmer of Hotdipur village in the district stared in disbelief at the night sky as an object emitting bright light lit up the fields around him and then fell into one of the paddy fields.

The baffled farmer, Pargat Singh, who was irrigating his fields at around 1930 hours last evening had one look at the object, which looked like a black coloured piece of rock from outer space.

"The object emitted bright light for sometime and then the light vanished," he told district police officials this morning.

The farmer was so scared that he did not go near the object and immediately rushed to the village and informed his family members.

The village panchayat was informed and this morning the sarpanch brought this to the notice of the Khinauri police station.

Senior police officials rushed to the spot and cordoned off the field where the object was lying. According to district officials the object appeared to be quite heavy from a distance but when it was lifted by a policeman, it weighed around 10 grams.

The district administration has taken the object, possibly from outter space into its custody and the state government has informed ISRO and the Science and Technology department of the central government. The object was later sent to New Delhi by the administration for detailed analyses.

According to experts at Chandigarh's Punjab University, the object could have been a small fragment of a meteor. However the object has created a scare in Hotdipur and the surrounding villages.

UNI