It fell on the campus of an engineering college in Vellore in February

Was it a bomb? Was it a space object? An object fell from the sky in Vellore district in Tamil Nadu earlier this year, sparking rumours of the possibility of it being a meteorite. Three months later, the mystery is yet to be solved. The samples have been passed on from one premier institution to another and a verdict is awaited from the experts.

One person was killed and three others were injured when the object fell on the campus of a private engineering college near Natrampalli in Vellore in February this year. A huge crater was the evidence of what happened that day a little after midnight.

The police initially suspected a meteorite. Samples were handed over to the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), an institute devoted to research in astronomy, astrophysics and related physics.

As of Wednesday, sources at the IIA said they had forwarded the samples to the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, which is engaged in basic research in areas of experimental and theoretical physics and earth and planetary sciences.

“We deal with objects that are in the sky. We did not find anything. We gave it (the samples) to PRL, Ahmedabad for further analysis,” said an official from IIA.

Vellore Superintendent of Police P. Pakalavan said they are yet to hear from any of the agencies. But he ruled out any fear among the locals, calling it an ‘isolated incident’.

Mystery object from the sky

In February 2016, an object fell from the sky

1 killed, 3 others injured

A crater was created due to the impact

Samples were sent to Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru

Samples forwarded to Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad