If it wasn’t an alien invasion, what did we see and hear?
This was the question boggling the minds of millions of South Africans, mainly in the Eastern Cape, after they thought they witnessed something otherworldly on Sunday August 25.
Fast forward to September 2, after dozens of theories were shared on social media — the start of an alien invasion, a plane crash, a nuclear explosion, a gas explosion, or even an earthquake.
Scientists around SA released a joint media statement at Rhodes University in an event hosted by Rhodes, Nelson Mandela University and the University of the Witwatersrand, after a week of deep research into the phenomenon.
The presentation opened with a request: “Do not touch the meteorite”. So not an alien invasion, then.
The meteorite is known as Nqweba — yes, it has been named after the town of Nqweba (formerly Kirkwood), where the first fragments were discovered.
The Howarelite Eucrite Diogenite achrondrites is one of the rarest meteors to hit Earth, forming as long ago as the birth of the solar system.
Deon van Niekerk of Wits said: “Therefore it allows scientists to trace the history of the solar system.
“The meteor is geochemically related to [comes from] an asteroid that is roughly 500km in diameter, called Vesta, the second-largest asteroid in the asteroid belt.”
Between August 28 and August 30, Dr Carla Dodd of Rhodes University and her team ventured out to meet eyewitnesses who had possible sightings of the fragments.
Scientists were helped by residents of St Francis Bay such as Zoe van der Merwe, Elize du Toit, and many others who captured the terminal flash on video and found some fragments.
Dodd said: “We’ve received hundreds of reports both from earwitnesses and eyewitnesses, and we thank you all for that.
“It’s great to have these multiple lines of evidence pointing to the same thing and this has really helped us to define the flight path.”
More than 150 reports were received — with the farthest sighting being 650km away in Petrusburg in the Free State — and sounds and vibrations were received along the Eastern Cape coast, with the main mass of disruption being over the Great Winterhoek mountains of Gqeberha.
Nasa’s Centre for Near Earth Object Studies described the meteor after two days of the bolide [meteor] event, which was a terminal flash above the Winterhoek Mountains.
The centre said: “Nqweba hit the atmosphere with a velocity of 20.1km/second in an east-north-east to northeast direction, with an energy release of 92 tonnes of TNT (one of the smallest so far in 2024), a disruption at 38km altitude, and a diameter of 1.5m (size of a motorcycle).”
Prof Roger Gibson said: “The sonic boom people heard was delayed by 120 seconds in the ears of those affected, due to the meteor breaking the sound barrier twice and travelling faster than sound.”
So, what does this mean for the future of South Africans? Is this the first of many?
Are there bigger meteors heading our way? Should we fear extinction, like the prehistoric dinosaurs?
“Sometimes, if we are very lucky, one of those pieces will make its way to the earth,” Gibson said.
If the professor does not seem too concerned, then neither should we be — hopefully.
He explained that the heat generated by meteors entering Earth’s atmosphere meant it more or less melted, reducing their initial mass and slowing down their velocity.
Gibson said meteorites of varying size landed on earth almost 20 times a day.
So, this is normal. Just make sure that when you see a beam of light you do not try to catch it. You are not made of air.
DispatchLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.