Klerksdorp Spheres

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The Klerksdorp Spheres are small, often spherical to disc-shaped, objects, which have been collected by miners and rockhounds from 3.0 billion year old pyrophyllite deposits mined by Wonderstone Ltd., near Ottosdal, South Africa. These objects have been cited by alternative researchers and reporters in books, i.e Cremo and Thompson (1993, 1999); popular articles, i.e. Barritt (1982), Jimison (1982), and Jochmans (1995); and innumerable web pages, i.e. Barton (nd) and Psybertronist (nd) as purportedly anomalous "out-of-place artifacts" that could only have been manufactured by intelligent beings. Conventional geologists, i.e. Cairncross (1988) and Heinrich (1997, 2007, 2008), who have personally studied these objects, have argued that these objects are not manufactured, but the result of natural processes.

[edit] Description

Klerksdorp "Sphere" It is 3 to 4 centimeters in maximum diameter and 2.5 centimeters in thickness.

The Klerksdorp "Spheres" typically range in diameter from 0.5 to 10 cm. As illustrated by Heinrich (2007, 2008), they vary widely in shape from either approximate or flattened spheres to well-defined discs and often are intergrown. Petrographic and X-Ray diffraction analyses of specimens of these objects by Heinrich (2007, 2008) found that they consist either of hematite (Fe₂O₃) or wollastonite (CaSiO₃) mixed with minor amounts of hematite and goethite (FeOOH). Observations by Cairncross (1988) and Nel et al. (1937) indicated that many of the Klerksdorp "Spheres" found in unaltered pyrophyllite consist of pyrite (FeS₂). The color of the specimens studied by Heinrich (2007, 2008), ranged from dark reddish brown, red, to dusky red. The color of those objects composed of pyrite is not known. All of the specimens of these objects, which were cut open by Heinrich (2007, 2008), exhibited an extremely well-defined radial structure terminating on either the center or centers of a Klerksdorp "Sphere". Some of these objects exhibit well-defined and parallel latitudinal grooves or ridges. Even specimens consisting of intergrown flattened spheres exhibit such groves (Heinrich 2007, 2008).

[edit] Geological Explanation of Their Origin

Geologists, i.e. Cairncross (1988) and Heinrich (1997, 2007, 2008), agree that the Klerksdorp "Spheres" originated as concretions, which formed in volcanic sediments, ash, or both, after they accumulated 3.0 billion years ago. Heinrich (2007, 2008) argues that the wollastonite nodules formed by the metamorphism of carbonate concretions in the presence of silica-rich fluids generated during the metamorphism of the volcanic deposits containing them into pyrophyllite. It was also argued that the hematite nodules represent pyrite concretions oxidized by weathering of near surface pyrophyllite deposits. Below the near-surface zone of weathering, which has developed in the pyrophyllite, pyrite concretions are unaffected by weathering and, thus, have not been altered to hematite. The radial internal structure of these objects is a pseudomorph after the original crystalline structure of the original carbonate or pyrite concretion (Heinrich 2007, 2008).

Side view of typical calcareous concretions, which exhibit equatorial grooves, found within Schoharie County, New York. Scalecube is one centimeter square.

Both Cairncross (1988) and Heinrich (2007, 2008) argue that the grooves exhibited by these concretions are natural in origin. As proposed by Cairncross (1988), the grooves represent fine-grained laminations within which the concretions grew. The growth of the concretions within the plane of the finer-grained laminations was inhibited because of the lesser permeability and porosity of finer-grained sediments relative to the surrounding sediments. Faint internal lamina, which corresponds to exterior groove, can be seen in cut specimens. A similar process in coarser-grained sediments created the latitudinal ridges and grooves exhibited by innumerable iron oxide concretions found within the Navajo Sandstone of southern Utah called "Moqui Marbles". Latitudinal grooves are also found on carbonate concretions found in Schoharie County, New York. The latitudinal ridges and grooves of the Moqui marbles are more pronounced and irregular than seen in the Klerksdorp (Ottosdal) concretions because they formed in sand that was more permeable than the fine-grained volcanic material in which the the Klerksdorp (Ottosdal) concretions grew (Heinrich 2007, 2008).

Very similar concretions have been found within strata, as old as 2.7 to 2.8 billion years, comprising part of the Hamersley Group of Australia (Lindsay and Bennett 2006). The Australian concretions and the Klerksdorp “Spheres” are among the oldest known examples of concretions created by geochemical conditions created by the bacterial decay of organic material, which result in production of humic acids, in oxic and sub-oxic environments.

[edit] Criticism of "out of place" claims

The various claims, i.e. Jochmans (1995) and Cremo and Thompson (1993, 1999), that these objects are either "perfectly round" or perfect spheres is now known to be incorrect as directly observed by Heinrich (1997, 2007, 2008). These specimens vary widely in shape, from noticeably flattened spheres to distinct disks. As illustrated by Heinrich (2007), some of the Klerksdorp "spheres" are intergrown with each other, like a mass of soap bubbles. The observations and figure refute claims that these objects are either always spherical or isolated in their occurrence. As noted by Heinrich (2007, 2008), even grooved spheres are not perfect spheres and some consist of intergrown spheres.

Similarly, the claims that these objects consist of metal, i.e. "...a nickel-steel alloy which does not occur naturally..." according to Jochmans (1995), are definitely false as discovered by Cairncross (1988) and Heinrich (2007. 2008). The fact that many of the web pages that make this claim also incorrectly identify the pyrophyllite quarries, from which these objects came, as the "Wonderstone Silver Mine" is evidence that these authors have not bothered to verify the validity of, in this case, misinformation taken from other sources since these quarries are neither known as silver mines nor silver has ever been mined in them in the decades in which they have been in operation (Nel et al. 1937, Lanham 2004).

Heinrich (1996) notes that one of Cremo's sources regarding the allegedly anomalous spheres was the Weekly World News which he described as "...a [sic] unreliable source of data for discussing the origins of the South African spheres described as used by Forbidden Archeology". As noted by Cairncross (1988), it appears that the source of the Weekly World News article is Barritt (1982), an article that appeared in a 1982 issue of Scopes Magazine about these objects. Scopes Magazine was a South African tabloid that, like the Weekly World News, cannot be regarded in any way as credible.

Additionally, Roelf Marx, as quoted in Cairncross (1988) and Pope and Cairncross (1988), former curator of the Klerksdorp Museum, reports that he was misquoted in regards to these objects. Marx was quoted in popular articles as saying that the objects rotated by themselves in vibration-free display cases in the Klerksdorp Museum. Instead, Roelf Marx stated that they rotated because of the numerous earth tremors generated by underground blasting in local gold mining. Similarly, inquiries of scientists, who studied these objects, have found that the claims that NASA found these objects to be either perfectly balanced, unnatural, or puzzling are completely unsubstantiated (Heinrich 2008).

Finally, descriptions, i.e. Psybertronist (nd) and Barton (nd), of these spheres being harder than steel are meaningless in terms of the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Such descriptions are meaningless because depending on either the type of heat treatment, the type of steel alloy, and whether it is case-hardened or not, the hardness of steel can vary quite dramatically. Given that the type of steel is unspecified in these accounts, it is impossible to assign a specific hardness in terms of the Mohs scale of mineral hardness from such an observation and determine whether it indicates them to be abnormally hard. There is a complete lack of any data published in any formal scientific paper, which substantiates that any of these spheres are abnormally hard as implied by such purely anecdotal accounts by non-geologists of these objects being harder than steel.

[edit] References cited

• Barritt, D. 1982. The Riddle of the cosmic cannon-balls: Scope Magazine. (June 11, 1982)
• Barton, J., nd, The Grooved Spheres: Mysteries of the World web site
• Cairncross, B. 1988. "Cosmic cannonballs" a rational explanation: The South African Lapidary Magazine. v. 30, no. 1, pp. 4-6.
• Cremo, M., and R.L. Thompson 1993. Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race: Torchlight Publishing. ISBN 0-89213-294-9
• Cremo, M., and R.L. Thompson 1999. The Hidden History of the Human Race: Torchlight Publishing. ISBN 0-89213-325-2
• Heinrich, P.V. 1996. The Mysterious Origins of Man: The South African Grooved Sphere Controversy: Talk.Origins Archive.
• Heinrich, P.V. 1997. Mystery spheres: National Center for Science Education Reports. v. 17, no.1, p. 34. (January/February 1997).
• Heinrich, P.V. 2007. South African concretions of controversy: South African Lapidary Magazine. vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 7-11.
• Heinrich, P.V. 2008. The Mysterious “Spheres” of Ottosdal, South Africa. National Center for Science Education Reports, v. 28, no. 1, pp. 28-33.
• Jimison, S. 1982. Scientists baffled by space spheres: Weekly World News (July 27, 1982)
• Jochmans, J. R., 1995, Top ten out-of-place artifacts: Atlantis Rising. no. 5, pp. 34-35, 52, and 54. (Fall 1995)
• Lanham, A., 2004, New horizons for Wonderstone, Mining Weekly, December 3, 2004.
• Lindsay, J. F., and V. Bennett 2006. The Late Archean biospheric explosion: 37th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Abstract #1174, Lunar and Planetary Institute, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, TX
• Nel, LT., H. Jacobs, J.T. Allen and G.R. Bozzoli 1937. Wonderstone. Geological Survey of South Africa Bulletin no. 8.
• Pope C. and B. Cairncross 1988. "Cosmic Cannonballs a geologic explanation: ARIP View. no. 1., pp. 5-6. (ARIP = Association for the Rational Investigation of the Paranormal)
• "Psybertronist", nd, A balanced and concentric ringed mystery spheroid