This just appeared in Zimdiaspora online:
A large rock mysteriously falls from the sky in Zimbabwes’ Nkayi village
Thursday, 19 March 2009 15:02
By Owen Gagare
A LARGE rock, weighing about 100 kilogrammes fell from the “sky,” in Nkayi at
the beginning of the month, shocking villagers while at the same time sending
the whole district wild with excitement and speculation.
The District Administrator for Nkayi, Ms Nosizi Dube, and the Police Officer
Commanding Crime in the district, Superintendent Chanetsa Maswi, confirmed the
incident.
The stone, many villagers now believe. is a gift from God, fell with a
thunderous noise in Madlilika Village in the Mjena area of Lukampa under Chief
Sikhobokhobo at about 5pm on 1 March.
It fell five metres from two villagers, Mr Judia Sibanda and Mr Mncedisi
Ngwenya, who were herding cattle in the bush.
In interviews on Tuesday, villagers from the area said they heard a thunderous
sound coming from the “sky,” and another sound resembling a bomb exploding.
“The noise later fizzled into a sound similar to one made by an aircaft on
take-off before dying away,” said Mrs Nomsa Ngwenya, a villager.
On seeing the rock fall, Mr Sibanda and Mr Ngwenya rushed to their home where
they told their father, Mr Spempokuhle Ngwenya, of the incident.
Mr Ngwenya told other villagers and together they went to inspect the rock,
after which it was agreed that he keeps it since his children had found it.
People from the area believe the rock could have been a special gift from God
containing very precious minerals while others believe that it could have been
sent by their ancestors in a bid to communicate something to them.
They have since vowed to jealously guard it until they get a satisfactory
explanation on what it symbolises or what mineral it contains.
They have been so determined to keep the rock that they even turned down Chief
Sikhobokhobo’s request to have the rock.
To date they have only allowed about 15 kilogrammes of the rock to be taken by
the Government, through the District Administrator’s Office and security
agents, so that it may go for testing.
The villagers, however, reluctantly released the rock.
According to Mr Sethukile Ndlovu, a teacher at Mjena Primary School, who also
comes from the area, the villagers believe that the unique stone could turn out
to be something of great significance.
“There is a lot of speculation at the moment but one thing for sure is that no
one seems to think it is a bad omen, although people were initially shocked by
the incident. A number of people touched the stone and nothing has happened to
them but the strongest belief seems to be that it is a precious stone,” he said.
“There is belief that it could be containing a very rich mineral while others
believe that either God or their ancestors were trying to communicate with
them. So, whichever way you look at it, this rock is important to the people of
this area and they are keen to find out what it really is. “There is belief
that the rock could be a good omen for the area and if there are any benefits
from it, the people do not want to lose out.”
Mr Ndlovu said the unique sound, which accompanied the rock made some people
believe that there was something supernatural about it.
He says the rock was heard in the entire Lukampa area as well as Matshena,
Mbuma and Nkalathi areas.
According to Mr Memukeli Khumalo, also from Mjena, Chief Sikhobokhobo sent two
of his advisors to have a look at the stone.
The chief also requested that the stone be sent to him but the villagers
refused. “At that meeting people said they had never seen anything like that.
The people refused to let go of the rock because they felt that if it was of
significance, then its significance would be here. At that meeting, there was
talk of raising spirit mediums so that they could find out what the stone meant
but we failed to raise them during the meeting,” he said.
When Chief Sikhobokhobo confirmed the incident he alerted the DA who in turn
alerted security agents.
The Assistant DA, Mr Knowledge Chikanga, then travelled to the area with the
police last week.
“We wanted to see what it was for ourselves and from a security point of view,
establish whether it was of harm or not. The elders from the area held onto the
rock but in the end they gave us one piece. We hope to conduct tests on the
rock,” said Ms Dube, the DA.
The rock weighing 15kg is being kept at Nkayi Police Station.
Supt Maswi said the rock would be tested by officials from the Ministry of
Mines and Mining Development to establish its chemical composition.
The rock is black and very smooth outside. It is grey inside.
Contacted for comment, officials from the Geological Survey Department said
they could not explain the phenomenon since they did not have a geologist in
the Matabeleland region although another official said the stone could have
come from space.
A solid state physicist contacted
