- Have Wijewardene's predictions come true?
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- The 2.5 kilogram meteorite which struck Kalugalatenna
estate in Muruthalawa, Yatinuwara at approximately 11 pm on Wednesday has
made many wonder whether the predictions of Lalith Wijewardene, a gemmologist
from Matara, have finally come true. The strike in Yatinuwara was preceded
by a strike in Wennappuwa on February 8 but was smaller.
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- Three months ago Wijewardene predicted that a meteorite
would strike a paddy field or abandoned land at Nittambuwa in the Gampaha
District. Although the actual site was a few kilometres away in Wennappuwa,
many say he can take credit for predicting the event.
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- The February 8 meteorite strike was witnessed by Rosemary
Jacinta, a resident of the area. She had heard a sound similar to that
of a leak in a gas cylinder which had persisted for about a minute.
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- Colombo Campus Senior Physics lecturer Dr. Chandana Jayaratne
told the `Sunday Observer' that the object was clearly a meteorite and
not any debris from a satellite or the recently-destroyed American-Columbia
spacecraft as thought by some.
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- The object measured 2.5 centimetres in one direction
and 1.6 cm in the other and was of a stone-type substance.
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- Dr.Jayaratne has sent a portion of the meteorite to the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA) for a thorough investigation.
On the following day the Air Force reported that one of its Kafir jets
was hit by an object while the aircraft was flying in the Wennappuwa area
at a height of 15,000 feet, damaging one of the plane's window pane. Some
suspect that the object could have been a meteorite striking the plane
and are wondering whether there was any link with the previous day's incident.
The pilot had not suffered injury.
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- According to Dr.Jayaratne, arrangements are being made
to send a part of the meteorite that struck Yatinuwara to NASA for examination.
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- Dr. Jayaratne said that meteorites may strike either
singly or in packs. These strikes may persist for more than a day at times
which goes to explain the hit on the Kafir jet on February 8.
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- Meanwhile, Wijewardene claims that his predictions of
earthquakes have also come true. These include Gujarat and Bangladesh in
January, 2001, and another in Iraq.
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- Wijewardene has also predicted an earthquake occurring
in Sri Lanka this year in the triangular area bordering Kotahena and Galle
Face up to Moratuwa. He says that the earthquake would be of considerable
magnitude and the tremor would be felt along the coastal belt in the triangle
up to a considerable distance.
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- However, geologists dismissing the predictions say that
no earthquake has ever been predicted. Nimal Ranasinghe of the directorate
of Geological Survey and Mines Bureau explained that Wijewardene's prediction
was surprising. "Predictions cannot be proved scientifically",
he said. He also dismissed the meteorite strike as a 'mere coincidence'.
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- Wijewardene is not able to explain how he made such predictions,
He says it could be an 'inborn talent' in him.
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