VEDARANYAM: Residents of Sembodai Village near Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district were on Friday astounded to find a ‘mystery object’ that had apparently fallen from space into a field near their homes.
On close examination the object that had crashed down was found to be a ‘GPS radiosonde’ instrument – typically a battery-powered telemetry instrument carried into the atmosphere, usually by a weather balloon, to measure various atmospheric parameters including pressure and humidity.
K Santhanam, a farmer of the village who went to his field this morning found the ‘mystery object’ and immediately alerted the local police. The villagers were later informed it was a ‘weather instrument’ that seemed to baffle them more.
After a detailed inquiry, police found the ‘mystery object’ with an antenna fitted to it, to be a ‘weather instrument’ of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and had been launched into space sometime back. The instrument is now kept in Vedaranyam police station. The IMD has been informed about it, police added.
