Grooved Spheres of South Africa?

                             “Klerksdorp Spheres”                    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Klerksdorp spheres are small objects, often spherical to disc-shaped, that have been collected by miners from 3-billion-year-old pyrophyllite (a mineral composed of aluminum silicate hydroxide) deposits mined by Wonderstone Ltd., just east of the central part of South Africa. They have been cited by alternative researchers and reporters in books, popular articles, and many web pages, as inexplicable out-of-place artifacts that could have only have been manufactured by intelligent beings.

They typically range in diameter from 0.5 to 10 centimeters (.20 inches to 3.94 inches). They vary widely in shape from either well-defined ball like discs (displayed above) or nearly flattened spheres (displayed left). Through petrography’s (the description and classification of rocks) and X-ray diffraction’s (method used to determine information about a crystal’s structure) evaluations of the objects or discs, have established that they consist either of hematite (the mineral form of iron III oxide) or sometimes wollastonite (a calcium silicate, which is the largest class of rock-forming minerals), in which case minor amounts of hematite and goethite, which is an iron bearing oxide mineral are incorporated into the their composition.

Further scientific observations have indicated that many of the Klerksdorp Spheres / discs that were found in unaltered pyrophyllite mineral deposits also consist of the mineral pyrite.

The color of the specimens studied (those make of hematite or wollastonite) ranged from dark reddish brown, red, to dusky red. The color of those objects composed of pyrite is not known for sure, none the less, “fools gold” or pyrite is generally known to have a metallic luster with a pale-brass-yellow hue.

As you might expect, there have been other reports which have resulted in rather disquieting mystery reports especially about their physical make-up or their inherent properties; which goes something like this: “Over the last few decades, miners in South Africa have been finding mysterious metal spheres encased within solid rock formations they’ve encountered during their mining operations. These spheres of unknown origin, measure approximately an inch or so in diameter, and some are etched with three parallel grooves running around the equator. Two types of spheres have been found: one is composed of a solid bluish metal, that’s harder than steel and unknown to modern man, with flecks of white; while the other is hollowed out and filled with a spongy white substance. The kicker is that the rock formation in which they where found is dated to be about 2.8 billion years old! Who made them and for what purpose is unknown”

“In addition, it appears that the spheres / discs are so delicately balanced that, even with modern technology, zero gravity would be needed to re-produce them.”  “As the story goes scientists at NASA were mystified when they examined them, and were unable to come up with any explanation.”

Theories abound as to where they came from and for what purpose they could possibly have served; such as:  The Spheres were artificially created by aliens or some lost and forgotten civilization and are of extreme ancient origin, but for what rationale function, you ask? Several theories have been offered of late:

The discs were a form of ancient currency. It’s known that some ancient cultures used objects other than coins and paper as money.

They are a “signal” or “message” from outer space. After all, some folk insist that “physical signals” are more reliable over the vast distances of space than electromagnetic or other energy based signals.

Then there’s the theory of ancient ammunition, which had either been stored or fired at the current location a really long time ago.

The idea that they hold some unknown magical purpose; question has been raised about research or study results by someone with the ability to see auras or someone skilled in psychometrics, which is the measurement of mental traits, abilities, and processes.

There’s always the possibility of ancient art.

It’s also been said that they are some yet unknown form of ancient information storage devices designed for record keeping.

Perhaps a kind of extraterrestrial surveillance device is a better guess. By having such physical artifacts here on earth, naturally the equipment on a distant planet used for surveillance technology will function a lot better.  Kind-a-like a radio / TV signal satellite repeater.

Then there’s the classic: the discs were produced by the billions as part of an extraterrestrial program to “seed” life across the Milky Way, thus including Planet Earth.

And one of my favorites is some speculation that they are connected in some way to Iapetus or Japetus, the third largest moon of Saturn which has unusual rings on its surface.

In any event, all of the specimens of those objects / discs, which were cut open by researchers, exhibited an extremely well defined radial structure terminating at the center or centers of each Klerksdorp Sphere. Several of the spheres exhibit well-defined and parallel grooves or ridges, thus enhancing the “out-of-place” concept. This parallel groove is an observable fact and applies to both specimens, those consisting of flattened spheres and those formed into ball like discs.

On the other hand, most credible Geologists who have studied these objects argue that the discs are not manufactured, but are the result of a natural process. 

Apparent valid arguments have been submitted that the spheres made from wollastonite minerals at least were formed by the process in which rocks are altered in composition, texture, or internal structure by extreme heat, pressure, and the introduction of new chemical substances resulting from silica-rich fluids such as those generated during volcanic deposits.

A similar process in coarser-grained sediments which created similar ridges and grooves are exhibited by innumerable iron oxide concretions that have been found within the Navajo Sandstone of southern Utah, USA, and they’re called “Moqui Marbles”.

When initially discovered, there were claims that these South African objects are either “perfectly round” or perfect spheres, but that claim is now known to be false.  Each specimen varies widely in shape, from noticeably flattened spheres to distinct ball shaped disks.  Similarly, inquiries by scientists, who have studied these objects, found that those claims stating that NASA found these objects to be either puzzling, perfectly balanced, or simply unnatural, are completely unsubstantiated.

Finally, a few published descriptions of these spheres as being made of some unknown metal that’s harder than steel are also fictitious. There is a complete lack of published data in any formal scientific paper, which proves or supports the argument that any of these spheres are abnormally hard; in fact, such implications are purely unreliable non-scientific accounts.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klerksdorp_sphere                                                                  http://www.virtuescience.com/grooved-spheres.html                                                http://www.enterprisemission.com/moon6.htm                                                                            http://www.ooparts.us/klerksdorp-spheres.htm