Found in the mines of Ottospandin South Africathe “Spheres “of Klerksdorp I am natural concretionsmainly made up of iron -based minerals, such as thehematiteabout approximately 3.2 billion years ago and today found inside Metamorphic rocks rich in baking dish. Despite the existence of a clear scientific explanation, over the years numerous theories have been born pseudoscientificwhich attributed its origin to highly advanced civilizations existed before the last glaciation. Among the most imaginative hypotheses, also that of aalien origin. All these theories have been widely refuted through the scientific method and the work of geologists.
Form, composition and characteristics of the “spheres” of Klerksdorp
Klerksdorp’s “spheres”, also known as “Spheres “of Ottospal, From the name of the South African city where the mines are found where they were found, they are natural concretions of form generally subsferic, ellipsidal or irregularfind inside the pre -hexic metamorphic rocks dated about 3.2 billion years ago, consisting of baking dish, a phyllosilicate mineral composed of aluminum hydroxide, with a chemical formula al2Yes4OR10(OH)2.
They have a color from reddish al brown darkmainly due to their composition rich in iron and to the processes of alteration. The external envelope is in fact made up of hematite (Fear₂OR₃), a common ferrous mineral, and can also contain Goethite (Feo (Oh)), an iron hydrated mineral, as well as traces of Wollastonite (Casio₃), a mineral typically associated with metamorphic processes of calcium -based minerals. When not oxidized and not altered, they have a metal shine, a yellow-pallid color and consist of pyrite (Fes₂).
Abroad, some specimens have some grooves O well obvious and parallel crests. These are common in the nodules grown in correspondence of the Stratification surfaces of the host rocks, that is, the surfaces along which different layers of rock are superimposed. Inside, Ottospal’s “spheres” have one radial structure Well defined, which indicates growth from the center towards the outside of the lump, a typical feature of this type of natural concretions. The hardness of the nodules on the Mohs scale it is placed between 4.0 and 5.0.
The scientific explanation on Klerksdorp’s “spheres”
The first discussions on the physical-natural origin of the “spheres” of Klerksdorp date back to 1930s of the twentieth century, anticipating pseudoscientific interpretations of decades. From the 1980s, numerous new analytical studies were conducted and, already from the first field observationstherefore before the laboratory analyzes, geologists identified the “spheres” of Klerksdorp as concretions of lemonitisan oxidal iron oxide mineral that often presents itself in the form of nodules. Only subsequent analyzes in the laboratory allowed to establish the exact chemical-immigrant composition.
A peculiarity of the finding site is that the nodules are not distributed at random, but concentrated in a subtle Strate of volcanic sedimentsthen transformed into baking dish through metamorphism. Klerksdorp’s “spheres” would have formed from precipitation minerals from fluids present in the sediments. The nodules of hematite in the superficial part would derive from the oxidation of pyrite concretions, while Wollastonite would have formed by Metamorphism of carbonate concretions in the presence of fluids rich in silica.
Pseudo-scientific theories
Since their discovery, geologists have identified the “spheres” of Klerksdorp like concretions natural. In reality, nothing new or particularly rare, being rather common compounds in the sedimentary record. However, these objects have attracted enormous interest public due to pseudoscientific theories And mystical developed from the beginning of the 80s on their origin, all subsequently refute.
In an article published in June 1982 on the US magazine Scopes Magazinethe note of a representative of the Epigraphic company of Arlington, who said that, in his opinion, the spheres were artifactsand therefore not of natural origin, and that they were a clear evidence of the existence of a technologically advanced civilization who would have inhabited the planet before the Great flood. In the same article the story of Roelf Marxcurator of the museum by Klerksdorpwho claimed to have seen one of the spheres rotate on itself within an exhibition showcase, thus strengthening the idea that it was an object technologically advanced.
Between the 1993 and the 1999several followers of Creationist movements they published articles in which they claimed that the objects of Klerksdorp were Perfect geometric spheres composed of a nickel and steel alloy, harder than steel itself, non -existent in nature. Also according to creationists, the origin of these objects was linked to a more advanced and technologically more advanced civilization. For this reason, they were included in the “top 10“of the list of Out-Of-Place Artifacts (Ooparts), or artifacts of historical, archaeological or paleontological interest found in unusual contexts that, according to fanatics, would seem to question history as we know it. In the early 2000s, some Ufologists claimed that the “spheres” of Klerksdorp would be included in the precarious rocks by one race alien And that, once opened, they would reveal the secrets of the universe.
Ultimately, many imaginative stories and without any scientific foundation. In fact, what unites all these stories is the fact that their supporters have never led any chemical or mineralogical analysis on the “Klerksdorp spheres”, nor have they ever studied the interior. The application of the scientific method would have quickly shown that these objects are not made up of unknown alloys, but rather from hematite And Other common minerals on earth. To obtain these results, geologists have conducted analyses petrographic And mineralogical routineusing microscopes optical and spread rays X.
In addition, pseudoscientific articles on the alleged origin of the “balls” of Klerksdorp present numerous contradictions and incorrect information. For example, they claimed that these objects were perfectly spherical, when in reality most of them have shape ellipsidal, flattened And irregular. Paradoxically, some of these adjectives even appear in the same articles that attributed an unnatural origin. Finally, with regard to the sphere that seemed to incline alone in the exhibition showcase of the Klerksdorp Museum, it should be noted that It was not an isolated case: several objects in the museum showed similar movements. The cause, identified after the publication of the Roelf Marx note in 1982, was attributed to vibrations caused from explosions in the surrounding mines.
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