Mysterious Burning Object Falls From Sky, Injures Two Women in India

Two women from Himachal Pradesh in India, reportedly sustained minor injuries when a mysterious ball of fire fell from the sky.

The fireball apparently fell soon after a jet plane was seen passing above the skies of Patola village, 19 km from Dharamsala town of Kangra district at about 9:15 am, a report said in Hindustan Times on Thursday.

A witness of the incidence, Sushil Kumar, described the fireball as being 12 inches in diameter before it fell to the ground and broke into several pieces.

"A fighter jet had passed through the sky just a moment before the fireball fell," said Kumar.

The injured women have been identified as 32-year-old Saroj and 21-year-old Arti who were busy doing chores when the fireball hit the surface. The women sustained burn injuries on their arms and back with the pieces of the unidentified object that hit them after splitting.

The women were taken to a hospital and were discharged immediately after first aid, the report says.

"I was washing clothes with my neighbour near my house when I heard the sound of an aircraft passing by and a few moments after that a burning object fell near us. It fragmented into several small pieces and some of which fell on us," Saroj said.

The burning object was at first thought to be a meteorite, but the theory was soon dismissed after a forensic team from Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL), Dharamsala, visited the area.

"Our team visited the area and found some explosive material from the spot. However, the nature of the explosive could be ascertained only after proper analysis. The samples are being sent to State Forensic Science Laboratory at Junga in Shimla," said Dr N Prakash Dubey of RFSL.

Dubey further said that since there is a an army firing area near the place where the unidentified object was found, there is a possibility that it is some kind of misfired explosive. He told the website that the physical evidences of the object were collected from four different places. He described the collected evidence as 'grey ash' and 'burnt pieces of rubber.'

"However, it is difficult to say what exactly it was," Dubey said. Another possibility is that it is some sort of fuel used in fighter jets, Dubey added.

A case has been registered in the local police station and the investigations into the matter are on.

"We are investigating the case. According to our knowledge, some army exercise is going on near Pathankot and our apprehension is that it could be some explosive used by them. It could have fallen from some aircraft as several fighter jets pass through the area every day," said, superintendent of police, Kangra, Balbir Thakur.

"However, we can't say anything exactly and are collecting information about it," he added.