A rural town was puzzled when a mysterious object dropped out of the sky, leaving a six metre crater filled with computer chips and metal fragments on the side of the highway.
Rumours flew around Bridgewater in north-central Victoria for two weeks after circuit board chips and metal fragments were found embedded in the hole, according to Fairfax.
There was speculation from some residents that the debris fell from a helicopter, whilst others insisted it was a meteor or even from a UFO.
However, the mystery has finally been solved and the reality was far less exciting, with confirmation the mysterious object was the result of a parachute experiment gone wrong.
‘(The parachute) weighs about one ton and was travelling at 300 knots, so while there was no explosion, there was a big “whoomp” when it hit the dirt,’ Australian Skydive Bridgewater director Ralph Hamilton-Presgrave told Fairfax.
Mr Hamilton-Presgrave insists the test was approved by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and no one’s safety was compromised – other than one little critter.
‘We did kill a field mouse though, so there was one casualty,’ Mr Hamilton-Presgrave admitted.
‘We take it up in a helicopter to about 9000 feet, we drop it and it freefalls, then it goes through a staged opening sequence, the parachute opens and it lands safely.’
Due to a malfunction, the parachute landed around 200 metres outside of the company’s property leaving a hole which has now been filled.
Found at Daily Mail