Conventional wisdom around space rocks and asteroids may now be challenged with the discovery of a massive meteorite fragment the size of a beach ball. The meteorite was found in one of the world's largest impact craters, the Morokweng crater in the North West province.

The fragment was found in the Morokweng impact crater, where a massive object slammed into the earth about 140 million years ago. The impact left a 70km diameter crater and the fragment was found 766m below this crater. The find is significant as it is believed that large asteroids and comets vaporise or melt completely a few seconds after impact, the large fragments now discovered challenges those beliefs.

The impact also co-incided with the end of the Jurassic period when there was a mass extinction of marine life and reptiles. There is also a belief that the find supports theories that life began on another planet

Marko Andreoli, an official from NECSA, asks: "Is it possible that life evolved on mars and was transported to earth by meteorite? If that is a question that has validity and it has been formulated by serious scientists, then something like this one which can deliver large quantities of rock from a planet to another and preserve it pristinely could be also an additional bonus." Scientists say besides these findings there is still a veritable treasure trove of information that can be gained from the meteorite.