Witnesses said they heard a big thud Monday night while others saw streaks of red and yellow light falling from the sky, according to the paper.

Some villagers believe meteorites are the rocks that Rama, hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana, used to build a bridge to rescue his kidnapped wife.

Others say the rock fragments have special powers.

"My son picked up one such stone and developed rashes on his hands. I believe these stones have been sent by God," Hansa Bai, a villager who lives in Jamnagar district, told the Times of India.

Witnesses described the bright streak with a bit of a tail using a number of colours, including blue, white, green, pink and orange. It lasted a few second before disappearing.

Bruce McCurdy, an astronomer at the Telus World of Science, received a few calls about the object Wednesday, confirming that there was something in the sky.

When told it wasn't a man-made object, McCurdy said the fireball was probably "interplanetary debris" as he initially suspected.

Seeing a fireball during the day, McCurdy said, is very rare occurrence.

Fontaine first tested her dashboard oven three years ago. She said anyone can do it; the only requirement is for the outside temperature to be at least 95 degrees, so it will rise to about 200 degrees in the car. Temperatures in the area reached the mid to upper 90s on Wednesday.

"Mrs. Fields has nothing on Sandi," co-worker Brian Champigny said of the cookie company.

Though Thursday was supposed to be cooler, Fontaine said she'll still enjoy the benefits of her culinary effort.

"When you open the door to that car," she said, "it's like, oh my God. It's a wonderful smell."

"The earthquake changed the gravity in that part of the world in two ways that we were able to detect," said Dr Shin-Chan Han, a research scientist in the school of Earth sciences at Ohio State University, in the August 3rd edition of the journal Science.

Firstly, the raising of the seafloor changed the geometry of the area and altered previous global positioning satellite (GPS) measurements from the areas.

Secondly, the density of the rock beneath the seafloor was changed, and an increase or decrease in density produces a notable gravity change, Dr Han said.

The results have been added to the latest seismic computer model, which Dr Han believes will "validate the quality of the model itself and therefore improve our knowledge about the Earth's dynamics".

Other findings from the Grace satellites, which have been orbiting the Earth since 2002, include the fact that the changing flow of the massive Mekong river affects gravity measurements for the area.

Dr Han added that the expansion of the current mission - dubbed Grace Two - might allow for the detection of major quakes (measuring between seven to 8.9 on the Richter scale), which occur frequently.