A boomerang stone: scientists analyzed a meteorite that allegedly flew into space and returned to Earth
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Scientists from France presented a new analysis of a meteorite found in the Sahara back in 2018. They believe that this stone flew into space and returned in several tens of thousands of years, reports ScienceAlert. The meteorite named “North West Africa (NWA) 13188” was re-examined by Jerome Gattaxek and his colleagues from the French National Center for Scientific Research. They suggest that this stone is of terrestrial origin – its bubbly appearance, chemical composition and crystal texture are characteristic of rocks that were formed by volcanoes near submerged oceanic plates. Boomerang meteorite. Photo: The Meteorological Society However, there are also changes in the chemical composition of the stone: scientists note a high concentration of helium-3, beryllium-10 and neon-21. Researchers explain this by the influence of cosmic rays. On Earth, their action is blocked by the magnetic field. NWA 13188 also has a glassy “fusion crust”. This indicates that the stone could have melted when entering the Earth’s atmosphere. However, fellow researchers question the journey of the “fake meteorite”. “We consider NWA 13188 to be a meteorite that was launched from Earth and subsequently re-accreted to its surface,” they conclude. At the same time, scientists from France suggest that this stone was probably “thrown” from the planet during a volcanic eruption or “thrown” into space when another meteorite hit the Earth. After calculations, scientists rejected the theory of “flight” from the volcano’s mouth, because in order to fly into orbit, the stone released from the mouth of the volcano must move at a speed of tens of thousands of kilometers per hour. At the same time, the highest volcanic plumes usually reach only 31-45 kilometers above the Earth, so it is unlikely that volcanoes can launch rocks into space, the researchers note. Regarding the theory related to the asteroid, scientists note that some collisions with Earth could have been strong enough to throw rocks into the solar system. Other meteorites several billion years old have also been found in the Sahara. According to approximate estimates of scientists, the largest desert of the Earth can hide more than 700 thousand meteorites. Read also: NASA’s Mars rover has sent new evidence of the existence of organic molecules on the red planet
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