Space & Astronomy

Giant metallic ring falls from the sky above small village in Kenya

By T.K. Randall
January 11, 2025 ·  4 comments

The huge object weighed 500kg. Image Credit: YouTube / Global News / KSA Measuring approximately 2.5 meters in diameter and weighing 500kg, the metallic ring could have easily proven lethal if it had happened to hit someone when it landed.

According to the Kenyan Space Agency, the object is most likely to be a fragment of a rocket that should have burned up in the atmosphere but survived re-entry and hit the ground instead.

"Preliminary assessments indicate that the fallen object is a separation ring from a launch vehicle," the agency said."There are many pieces of debris in space and one cannot be 100 percent certain which will fall where. However, most debris burns up in the atmosphere, and incidents like this are extremely rare."

The case highlights the increasing level of danger posed by falling space debris which has the potential to cause serious damage or even death should it fall in a densely populated area.

Exactly which country built the rocket from which the debris originated currently remains unclear.

You can check out a news report with more detailed views of the object below.


Source: Independent | Comments (4)

Tags: Kenya, Rocket