‘Meteor’ in Pataudi suspected to be frozen human excreta that fell from a plane

gurgaon

Updated: Jan 21, 2018 13:04 IST

A frozen ‘unidentified object’ that crashed into a wheat field Saturday morning at Fazilpur Badli village in Pataudi subdivision of Gurgaon district was suspected to be a meteor until it turned out to be human excreta that had possibly fallen from an aircraft.

A solid ice cube like object said to be about eight kilogram in weight fell from the sky with loud thud in the wheat field of a man named Balwan. Villagers soon gathered around the spot and informed sarpanch and also called the police and local administration.

The suspicious object had caused a one-foot deep hole in the ground and had broken into pieces on impact. It also began melting after two hours. The police informed the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to investigate the matter since people began speculating it as a meteor.

“We reported the matter to the police forensic lab for investigation,” said Vivek Kalia, estate officer (EO-Huda) also in charge of Pataudi sub division.

The object remained a subject of huge curiosity for the area residents who turned in large number to have a look.

SP Bhan, senior IMD official collected samples from the spot, said, “It was not meteor of course because meteor is a solid object and cannot melt. The object we found there was as transparent as ice and it could be ice or human excreta. After chemical analysis of the object we can be sure of what it was.”

Karan Singh, SHO Fazilpur, said, “It fell away from residential areas in the green wheat field. No doubt it could have hurt someone if it had fallen on a person. It might be an ice cube that fell from the sky, meteor or human excreta which can be confirmed only after examinations.”

But IMD officials, the police the district administration say prima facie the suspicious object seems to be human excreta.

The locals were frightened initially and till IMD team reached and confirmed it was not meteor.

In October 2016, a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar had issued notices to the Ministries of Environment and Forests and Civil Aviation and CPCB, seeking their replies following a complaint of dropping of human excreta turned into ice cube by a Delhi resident who had complained about disposal of excreta by airplanes in Vasant Kunj and adjoining areas.

According to a senior Air India executive, plane toilets store human waste in special tanks normally disposed after landing but leaks occur often in the air at times injuring people.