Posted on 04/11/2005 1:25:45 PM PDT by smoothsailing
MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2005 12:00 AM
O ambiguous orb, might thee reveal thy secrets?
The mystery of the 400-pound metallic sphere goes unsolved on the Isle of Palms
BY GLENN SMITH
Of The Post and Courier Staff
ISLE OF PALMS--It washed ashore under the cover of darkness, a giant metal ball coughed up from the ocean depths.
No one could figure out what it was when a group of vacationers found the silver orb one morning in June 2002 near Ocean Boulevard.
Today, almost three years later, people are still scratching their heads at the mysterious sphere that now takes up space in the city's public works garage. "We've never determined what it was," Isle of Palms Mayor Mike Sottile said. "But it's definitely a conversation piece."
The smooth, metallic sphere is at least 3 feet in diameter and weighs nearly 400 pounds. It split in half when city workers went to move it from its sandy spot, revealing a hollow core. Despite its weight, it was seen bobbing in the waves before making landfall.
The buoyant globe quickly became a local curiosity as a parade of government officials rushed to the island to examine the odd ball. International interest followed after the story ended up on the BBC, CNN, "Good Morning America" and Web sites devoted to UFOs and news of the weird.
Everyone seemed to have a theory about the orb's origin. Some suggested the sphere was part of a Polaris missile or an overflow stopper for a gas tanker. Others thought it was a piece of space debris or a metallic ball dropped into the ocean to help calibrate radar towers. A few said it looked like a Navy target decoy.
Art Lynch of Texas thought for sure it was a pig; not the kind that goes "oink," but harmless balls of metal used to clean petroleum pipelines or separate fuels. He'd never heard of one that big, though.
Some observers thought the orb should be placed in a museum of some sort. Others wanted to stick it in their yards as a lawn ornament.
"PLEASE, please, please, please tell me that you will have them put this thing on eBay," one man from Florida wrote in an e-mail to The Post and Courier.
City officials initially planned to recycle the aluminum ball like a giant beer can but then took pity on their unusual find. They couldn't bring themselves to turn it into slag. So, it continues to sit amid tractors, lawn mowers in other equipment in the town garage.
"It's kind of unique to have something like that float up on the beach," Sottile said. "I imagine sooner or later, we'll get rid of it, but we've been hoping someone would claim ownership and tell us what it is."
Isle of Palms Fire Chief Ann Graham, who coordinated the sphere rescue, wouldn't mind displaying it in front of the fire station as a mini tourist attraction. It hasn't attracted much outside interest in recent years, but a few island folk still ask her, "Where's that ball at?" Graham said.
"If we did find out what it was, it wouldn't be as fun anymore, would it?"
This article was printed via the web on 4/11/2005 4:11:30 PM . This article appeared in The Post and Courier and updated online at Charleston.net on Monday, April 11, 2005.
All your smooth, metallic sphere are belong to us.
Horta?
Mylar dipped in glue.
Did the Prisoner escape?
Space junk.
Space junk.
Space junk.
Michael Crichton wrote about this thing...it's bad news..LOL
Space junk.
The correct pronoun for your headline is "thou," not "thee."
He didn't need it any longer after he hooked up with his step daughter.
Answer unclear. Try again later.
Well,you sure seem certain! :)
Feh. GMTA.
And ours do, too! ;-)
LOL!
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