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(May 10) -- A mysterious object that seemed to fall from the heavens onto a crowded beach near Tel Aviv turns out to have had more earthly origins.
The small burning rocklike object attracted plenty of curiosity when it landed last month on a beach in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv. Initially it was identified as a meteorite, but after high amounts of phosphorous were detected, experts have concluded it was man-made.
"This Israeli event may not have been faked on purpose, but it's certainly not a meteorite," said Ian O'Neill, writing for Discovery News. Rather, the object was likely once part of an incendiary device, he added.
The object was reportedly first spotted by lifeguard Yisrael Rokach. "When I got closer I saw a small object that kept on burning and smoking. I immediately called my fellow lifeguards, who didn't believe me," Rokach told Israel's Ynetsnews. "They came down and at the same time we called the police." Another lifeguard noted that the rock had an "odd smell" and continued to burn, even when it was submerged in water.
Because the vast majority of meteorites burn up when they enter Earth's atmosphere, the possibility that one had landed in a populated area attracted wide attention from news organizations, including the BBC. The problem, however, is that even when meteorites do land on Earth, they typically are not hot, let alone burning.
But the exact nature of the would-be meteorite has not been publicly determined, and it's unclear how any incendiary device could have accidentally ended up on a beach.
"It is definitely not a meteor and not a different natural substance -- somebody created it, and it did not appear from outer space," Dr. Ittai Gavrieli of the Geological Survey of Israel told Ynetsnews in a follow-up article on the incident.
What the phosphorous-contaminated object might be is still unclear. White phosphorous, sometimes called Willy Pete, has a number of military uses, including as an obscurant or an illuminant, but it can also start fires when it hits something flammable. When it comes into contact with human skin, the result can be horrific burns.
Israel faced international criticism for using white phosphorous during its most recent military offensive in Gaza, which started in December 2007 and continued into January 2008.
'Meteorite' on Israeli Beach May Have Been Weapon
May 10, 2010 – 2:59 PM
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