6kg metallic ball drops from the sky in Namibia

A metallic ball weighing six kilograms fell out of the sky and landed in north-east Namibia, the National Forensic Science Institute (NFCI) said Thursday, adding that it was conducting tests in order to find out what it was.

Paul Ludik from the NFCI was quick to dismiss any notion that it was foreign to the planet, saying the metal alloy was known to man and used in spacecraft.

The ball, which has no markings, has a circumference of 110 centimetres and made a loud exploding sound when it landed in late November in the Omusati region, a relatively populated part of the vast southern African nation.

Ludik said the noise could have been a sonic boom or just the sound of the object hitting the ground.

No space agency has yet claimed the item, which remains in Namibian police custody.

"We are awaiting the final outcome of our analysis before we release more information," Ludik told dpa by telephone.

Similar incidents in the southern hemisphere have been recorded before.