Klerksdorp balls

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As Klerksdorp balls (also: Klerksdorp spheres ) is called the archaeological of about 200 small balls from mines of the company Wonder Stone Ltd. come near the South African Ottosdal . The spheres were discovered in large deposits of the mineral pyrophyllite . They are exhibited in the Klerksdorp Museum in the city ​​of the same name . Their age is estimated to be around three billion years. Due to their round shape, their attested hardness and the fact that at least one of the Klerksdorp spheres is provided with three circumferential lines, they have been referred to as artifacts from various quarters since their discovery , which thus originated long before humanity and of unnatural origin should be. The Klerksdorp balls became known in particular through popular scientific publications and tabloid journalism. From a scientific point of view, this derivation is controversial. Critics see a natural origin in the appearance and shape of the Klerksdorp spheres and therefore attribute them to so-called pseudo - artifacts .

description

Klerksdorp sphere with three circumferential notches

Klerksdorp spheres consist either of hematite or of wollastonite , which is mixed with small amounts of hematite or goethite . Such spheres, which come from unchanged pyrophyllite deposits, should essentially consist of pyrite . The typical size is between one and four centimeters. Their shape varies from almost complete spheres to flattened spheres to more disk-shaped objects. With regard to the further appearance, two different types are distinguished: Some Klerksdorp spheres are bluish with white spots and consist entirely of solid material. Others enclose a cavity that is filled with a soft white matter. If the thin outer skin of these filled Klerksdorp spheres is broken, the soft substance disintegrates into dust.

Artifact thesis

Proponents of the thesis that the Klerksdorp spheres must have been produced by intelligent beings three billion years ago, cite an allegedly almost perfect round shape of the objects as evidence. In addition, the balls should have such a high degree of hardness that a natural notch of fine, parallel lines must be excluded. Furthermore, the balls should also be almost perfectly balanced. The curator of the Klerksdorp Museum, Roelf Marx, is often quoted as saying that the spheres are completely puzzling and that NASA has even admitted that they can only produce spheres of such perfection in weightlessness.

Pseudo artifact thesis

Critics of the claims of a non-natural origin of the objects state that even the perfectly shaped specimens of the Klerksdorp spheres only give this impression from individual perspectives. In fact, these are anything but round. Another point of criticism is the fact that the possible creation of legends is based on numerous citations from a joke source. In detail, it concerns a 1982 edition of the newspaper Weekly World News , which regularly published completely fictional reports, with sometimes comedic and abstruse titles like "Devil escapes from hell".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e s8int.com , accessed December 18, 2016.
  2. ^ Govardhan Hill Publishing ( June 19, 2010 memento in the Internet Archive ), Weekly Feature.
  3. ↑ a b Three billion year old spheres - the Klerksdorp spheres. In: palaeoseti.de. July 19, 2018, accessed August 1, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b virtuescience.com , accessed on 21 November 2011th
  5. ↑ talkorigins.com , accessed November 21, 2011.