What are Klerksdorp globules, mysterious stones found in a 2.8 billion-year-old rock?

The grooves running through the spheres have caught the attention of those who believe in extraterrestrial life – Image: GETTY IMAGES via BBC

In the second half of the twentieth century, reports began to appear of mysterious finds in mines near the town of Ottosdal in South Africa.

The artifacts found were balls, polished and with perfectly carved lines, which looked very similar to a cricket ball.

At first glance, these objects, no more than 10 centimeters in diameter, seemed to have been carved by human hands and were part of the archaeological heritage of an ancient civilization.

However, the surprising thing is that the spheres were discovered inside a rock of pyrophyllite (a mineral used in Chinese carvings) formed about 2.8 billion years ago.

Any time when there was no intelligent life on Earth.

The balls were transported to the city of Klerksdorp, in northern South Africa, for study and subsequent display in the city’s main museum.

For this reason, they became known as the domains of Klerksdorp.

However, in the early 1980s, articles began circulating in popular pseudoscience publications attributing the stones to an alien origin and suggesting that they were “evidence of an extraterrestrial presence” on Earth before humans appeared.

One such article was signed by a researcher named Michael Cremo and posted on a news portal.

South African geologist Bruce Kirkhorn, from the University of Johannesburg, told BBC News Mundo, the BBC Spanish-language service: “These publications arose due to a lack of geological studies that could explain the true origin of these stones.”

Pressure and heat inside the rocks produce ball-shaped crickets – Image: BRUCE CRAINCROSS via BBC

Cairncross points out that the spheres are far from a mystery, let alone a possible trace of the passage of extraterrestrial beings on our planet.

“He thought there was no need to explain something that seemed obvious: that stones were mined from rocks formed billions of years ago,” said the geologist.

“While it can be understood that they command attention, these types of globules are very common in pyrophyllite formations.”

But how did they get this shape?

Millions of years of training

As the IFLScience portal points out, during the 1980s many articles with little scientific basis began to suggest that the Klerksdorp domains had been created by a “superior civilization, an antediluvian civilization of which we know practically nothing”.

As noted in other reports, such as Lapidary Magazine, some media went so far as to add that the balls rotated by themselves inside the window where they were placed.

Therefore, a society known as the Society for the Rational Investigation of Paranormal Phenomena sought Cairncross’s cooperation to refute the arguments that were gaining more and more followers.

“The basic explanation was not enough: they originated from a formation more than 2.8 billion years ago, but we had to go deeper: explain how they formed,” says the academic.

He explained that the stones were found in a formation known as the “dominant group”.

“The main feature is what makes up this conglomerate, with several layers of lava deposited on top that after a lot of pressure and heat turned into pyrophyllite, which is what covers the globules,” he said.

The same geologist points out that the peculiarity of the stones is due to the fact that they have survived for millions of years under pressure and heat that are formed inside a larger rock that somehow “housing” them, and have been subjected to water erosion.

Cairncross points out that the spheres are far from a mystery, let alone a possible trace of extraterrestrials passing on our planet – Image: BRUCE CRAINCROSS via BBC

“Spheres are known as concretions: spherical, elliptical, or flat bodies composed of various minerals present in the host rock. They are so common, thousands have been found around the world,” notes the geologist.

And the specialist adds that these concrete blocks are found in fine-grained rocks, such as pyrophyllite, which is widespread in that region of South Africa.

Pseudoscientific explanations proliferated

Cairncross points out that one of the reasons he offered a broader interpretation of domains was because a lot of people believed what pseudoscientific publications were saying.

The geologist refers to a journal that reported that the cartons had been taken to NASA and cited a report that indicated the supposed production of the pieces “in a place with zero gravity”.

But the specialist accepts that the Klerksdorp spheres have a peculiarity perhaps not found in all similar spheres already found in the world: the parallel lines that cross them, the ones that give them the appearance of a cricket ball.

“Actually, it’s not lines, but layers,” says the geologist.

“This is the product of the tracks left by the host rock, which were built up in layers over a long period, creating the effect you can see now,” he says.