Social media was burning with wild speculation about a fallen meteorite that allegedly ended up in the playground of a school in Far North Queensland, with the report that NASA was called in to investigate. But not everything was as it seemed.
A whole bunch of anecdotes and theories came to the fore online when people rushed to get more information. However, it was not long before the amateur astronomers were somewhat overwhelmed to discover the true, much more mundane origins of the ‘space rock’.
“We had all kinds of inquiries from around the world,” said Malanda State School principal Mark Allen before announcing the real news that the viral meteorite attack on his playground is actually a school project.
Allen described the exercise as a “little fun” in which students of the school are asked “Report” on a meteorite landing as part of an order they were given to interrogate witnesses and emergency services at the scene, with someone allegedly deciding to take the initiative and bring the matter up to NASA.
“The local police liked to get involved with the school and the children to make it more realistic,” explained local resident Daniel Moss. ‘It’s a small town, they did not expect it [the school project] to go viral. ”
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