A rumble in the sky and a loud thud a few seconds later shook villagers in Fazilpur Badli on Saturday, 20 January, leaving them wondering what had happened. Rajbir Yadav was in a wheat field when a "large rock" made its way to the ground, forming a one-foot crater.
Was it a missile, a bomb, or a meteor?
A terrified, befuddled Yadav sprinted to village head Sukhbir Singh. While the elders wracked their brains to make a guess, the children brimming with curiosity declared it was a “gift by the aliens.”
The news spread like wildfire, and a few minutes later, a large number of the villagers had circled the frigid “rock,” which later turned out to be human poop.
"It is white, holy stone gifted by aliens," a child exclaimed.
"Jaadoo" from the film Koi Mil Gaya had one, he said.
Others conjectured it was a rare mineral or a celestial object, sneaked a few pieces into their homes and stowed them in the fridge, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Pataudi, Vivek Kalia told PTI.
A few people approached the district administration, and a team comprising officials from the Meteorological Department and the National Disaster Management Authority was formed under Kalia.
The team found the "celestial gift" the whole village was talking about the entire day was "blue ice", a term used for frozen toilet waste leaking from aircraft, Kalia said. Blue ice is a frozen mix of human excreta and liquid disinfectants.
"It appears to be human waste disposed off mid-air by an aircraft. The forensic team sent a sample to a lab in Bhondsi to ascertain what it is," he added. The report is expected to be out on Monday, 22 January.
Villagers who kept it (blue ice) inside their refrigerators are disappointed and are now busy cleaning their houses.A resident told TOI
According to The Times of India, in December 2016, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to make airlines pay Rs 50,000 as environmental compensation in such cases.
(With inputs from PTI and The Times of India)
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