Two days after a mysterious metallic object fell from the sky and landed at Mukuku Village in Makueni County, fresh details about it have emerged.
The Kenya Space Agency, a government agency tasked with fostering responsible space activities, has identified the object as a separation ring from a rocket.
“Preliminary assessments indicate that the fallen object is a separation ring from a launch vehicle (rocket). Such objects are usually designed to burn up as they re-enter the earth’s atmosphere or to fall over unoccupied areas, such as the oceans. This is an isolated case, which the agency will investigate and address using the established framework under the International Space law,” Kenya Space Agency said in a statement on Wednesday.
Kenya Space Agency says metal that landed in Makueni is a foreign object
“We want to assure the public that the object poses no immediate threat to safety. Our experts will analyse the object, use existing frameworks to identify the owner, and keep the public informed of the next steps and outcomes.”
The clarification came as a relief to a region whose holiday peace was disturbed by the metallic ring measuring about approximately 2.5 meters in diameter and weighing about 500 kilogrammes, according to the Kenya Space Agency.
The sheer weight of the ring is a pointer to the grave danger that the object’s fall in an inhabited area posed to villagers, their animals, homes and other possessions.
Witnesses said it made a deafening thunderstorm-like sound as it fell which was heard some 200 kilometers away.
According to Mbooni East Sub-county Police Commander James Rotich, it was red hot when it landed in a forested area.
On Monday, Major Alloys Were, a Kenya Defence Forces officer attached to the Kenya Space Agency led a delegation of government officials in touring the scene of the incident.
“We are here to assess the impact of the fallen object to the area, identify whose space object it is so that we can use the existing legal mechanisms under international law as far as the outer space treaty is concerned to look and find a way to first get the owner and bring him to take responsibility of his space object,” Mr Were said amid heightened calls for compensating locals shocked by the fallen object.
