Within Botswana UFOs
How Botswana's 2018 Fireball Was Identified
The 2018 Botswana fireball shows how eyewitness reports become a solved case when tracking data, recovered meteorites and scientific analysis align.
On this page
- The fireball seen over central Botswana
- Tracking asteroid 2018 LA before impact
- Meteorite recovery and the evidential chain
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Introduction
On 2 June 2018, people across central Botswana witnessed a brilliant fireball streak across the daytime sky. Unlike most spectacular aerial sightings, this event did not remain unexplained. Within hours, astronomers had linked the fireball to the small near-Earth asteroid 2018 LA, which had been detected in space roughly eight hours before it entered Earth’s atmosphere. Subsequent field investigations recovered meteorites from Botswana’s Central Kalahari, creating one of the most complete evidential chains ever assembled for a natural impact event.[UB]ub.bwresearcher part of asteroid fragment recovery team | University of BotswanaUB researcher part of asteroid fragment recovery team | University of BotswanaJune 23, 2018…
For a project examining UFO reports in Botswana, the 2018 fireball is especially significant because it demonstrates how an initially dramatic and potentially mysterious aerial phenomenon was resolved through independent observations, orbital calculations, video analysis and laboratory examination. Rather than supporting an unidentified or extraordinary explanation, it became a textbook example of scientific investigation transforming eyewitness reports into a fully identified event.[PMC]nih.govPMC7611328PMCThe impact and recovery of asteroid 2018 LA - PMCApril 23, 2021
The fireball seen over central Botswana
Shortly after midday on 2 June 2018, a bright object entered Earth’s atmosphere above southern Africa and produced an intense fireball visible over much of Botswana and neighbouring regions. Witnesses described a brilliant streak followed by fragmentation as the object broke apart under enormous atmospheric pressure. Security cameras in towns including Maun and Rakops also recorded the event, providing valuable visual evidence beyond human testimony.[UB]ub.bwresearcher part of asteroid fragment recovery team | University of BotswanaUB researcher part of asteroid fragment recovery team | University of BotswanaJune 23, 2018…
From the perspective of an eyewitness, the phenomenon could easily have been mistaken for something unusual. The object travelled rapidly, became exceptionally bright and fragmented high in the atmosphere. Such characteristics are common to large meteoroids entering Earth’s atmosphere but are also the kinds of observations that, without supporting evidence, can generate speculation about unidentified aerial objects.
What distinguishes this case is that investigators were able to compare eyewitness accounts with astronomical predictions, video recordings and recovered physical material. The event therefore moved rapidly from being an unidentified aerial sight to a conclusively identified meteorite fall.[PMC]nih.govPMC7611328PMCThe impact and recovery of asteroid 2018 LA - PMCApril 23, 2021
Tracking asteroid 2018 LA before impact
The most remarkable feature of this event is that the object was discovered before it struck Earth.
Asteroid 2018 LA was detected by the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona approximately eight hours before atmospheric entry. Astronomers quickly calculated that its orbit intersected Earth and alerted planetary defence networks. Although the asteroid was only about 1.5 metres across—far too small to survive intact—it became only the third asteroid ever discovered before impact and only the second for which meteorites were later recovered.[ub.bw]ub.bwresearcher part of asteroid fragment recovery team | University of BotswanaUB researcher part of asteroid fragment recovery team | University of BotswanaJune 23, 2018…
Because astronomers already knew the incoming object’s trajectory, investigators entered the fireball investigation with unusually strong prior information. Instead of working solely from eyewitness descriptions, they could compare:
- telescope observations made before atmospheric entry;
- predicted impact trajectory;
- fireball videos recorded from multiple locations;
- atmospheric modelling of fragmentation;
- the eventual locations of recovered meteorites.
Each stage independently reinforced the others, producing an unusually robust reconstruction of the event.[PMC]nih.govPMC7611328PMCThe impact and recovery of asteroid 2018 LA - PMCApril 23, 2021
How investigators located the meteorites
After the fireball, researchers from Botswana and several international institutions worked together to predict where surviving fragments might have landed.
Scientists combined orbital calculations with security-camera footage to reconstruct the fireball’s flight path and estimate the “strewn field”—the area where meteorite fragments were expected to fall after slowing during their final descent. Local knowledge proved essential, with researchers from the Botswana Geoscience Institute, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, the University of Botswana and international collaborators participating in the search.[UB]ub.bwresearcher part of asteroid fragment recovery team | University of BotswanaUB researcher part of asteroid fragment recovery team | University of BotswanaJune 23, 2018…
The first meteorite was recovered on 23 June 2018 in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve after several days of systematic searching. It was named Motopi Pan, after a nearby watering place. Further expeditions eventually recovered 23 meteorites from the strewn field.[PMC]nih.govPMC7611328PMCThe impact and recovery of asteroid 2018 LA - PMCApril 23, 2021
The recovery was scientifically important because fresh meteorites weather rapidly once exposed on the ground. Finding the fragments within weeks preserved valuable chemical and mineralogical information about the original asteroid.
The evidential chain that solved the case
Few atmospheric events have been documented through as many independent lines of evidence as the 2018 Botswana fireball.
The investigation linked every stage of the asteroid’s journey:
- Discovery in space before impact by astronomical surveys.
- Accurate orbital calculations predicting atmospheric entry.
- Independent eyewitness observations across Botswana.
- Video recordings allowing precise trajectory reconstruction.
- Atmospheric modelling predicting the meteorite fall zone.
- Recovery of physical meteorites from the predicted area.
- Laboratory analysis confirming the recovered rocks originated from asteroid 2018 LA. PMC+2Wiley Online Library
This chain is especially valuable because each stage corroborates the others. Eyewitness reports alone can be incomplete or mistaken, but in this case they were supported by physical measurements before, during and after atmospheric entry.
For researchers studying unidentified aerial phenomena, the Botswana fireball illustrates how a spectacular visual event can become completely identified when sufficient observational evidence exists.
What the recovered meteorites revealed
Laboratory analysis showed that the recovered fragments belonged to a rare HED polymict breccia, a class of meteorites associated with the differentiated asteroid 4 Vesta, one of the largest bodies in the asteroid belt. Researchers concluded that 2018 LA was probably excavated from Vesta or a closely related asteroid family before eventually evolving into an Earth-crossing orbit. Wiley Online Library
The study also estimated that before impact the asteroid measured about 1.56 metres across, possessed a relatively high density and struck Earth’s atmosphere with an energy of roughly 0.2 kilotons of TNT equivalent. By combining orbital calculations with geochemical dating, scientists reconstructed not only the asteroid’s final hours but also aspects of its geological history stretching back billions of years. Wiley Online Library
This combination of astronomical observation and laboratory science transformed a brief atmospheric event into one of the best-characterised small asteroid impacts on record.
Why this matters in Botswana’s UFO record
Within Botswana’s catalogue of unusual aerial reports, the 2018 fireball occupies a unique position because it is the country’s best-documented spectacular sky event—and one that has a definitive explanation.
Unlike anecdotal UFO sightings that depend largely on personal testimony, the 2018 event is supported by multiple independent datasets, including telescope observations, orbital mechanics, camera recordings, meteorite recovery and peer-reviewed scientific analysis. Every major component of the investigation points to the same conclusion: the fireball was produced by asteroid 2018 LA entering Earth’s atmosphere. PMC
The case therefore serves as an important reference point for evaluating other unusual aerial claims in Botswana. It demonstrates that dramatic visual phenomena are not, by themselves, evidence of unidentified craft. When sufficient observational data exist, even an extraordinary-looking event can often be traced to a well-understood natural cause.
Within the broader chronology of Botswana’s reported UFO incidents, the 2018 fireball stands not as an unresolved mystery but as the strongest example of how rigorous investigation, international scientific collaboration and recovered physical evidence can conclusively identify an event that initially appeared extraordinary. UB
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Endnotes
1.
Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Link:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/maps.13653
Source snippet
Wiley Online LibraryThe impact and recovery of asteroid 2018 LA - Jenniskens - 2021 - Meteoritics & Planetary Science - Wiley Online Library...
3.
Source: ub.bw
Title: researcher part of asteroid fragment recovery team | University of Botswana
Link:https://www.ub.bw/news/ub-researcher-part-asteroid-fragment-recovery-team
Source snippet
UB researcher part of asteroid fragment recovery team | University of BotswanaJune 23, 2018...
Published: June 23, 2018
4.
Source: wits.ac.za
Title: fragment of impacting asteroid recovered in botswana
Link:https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/research-news/2018/2018-06/fragment-of-impacting-asteroid-recovered-in-botswana.html
Source snippet
Wits University2018-06 - Fragment of impacting asteroid recovered in Botswana - Wits University...
5.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34295141/
Source snippet
The impact and recovery of asteroid 2018 LA - PubMed...
6.
Source: science.nasa.gov
Title: asteroid 2018 la
Link:https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/asteroid-2018-la/
7.
Source: neo.ssa.esa.int
Link:https://neo.ssa.esa.int/past-impactors/2018la
Additional References
8.
Source: authors.library.caltech.edu
Title: Here, we report on the successful recovery of meteorites
Link:https://authors.library.caltech.edu/[records
Source snippet
impact and recovery of asteroid 2018 LA | CaltechAUTHORSApril 23, 2021 — ABSTRACT The June 2, 2018 impact of asteroid 2018 LA over Botswa...
Published: April 23, 2021
9.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Asteroid’s 22-Million-Year Journey: From Vesta to Earth! | WION Podcast
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzPKo6EvfXg
Source snippet
Orbital Trajectory Animation of Asteroid 2018 LA /ZLAF9B2 hits near Ottosdal North West South Africa...
10.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVrQ83slZv0
Source snippet
Meteor / Asteroid hits earth (June 2018 / South Africa)...
Published: June 2018
11.
Source: ntrs.nasa.gov
Link:https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210015467
Source snippet
NASA Technical Reports ServerThe Impact and Recovery of Asteroid 2018 LA - NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)...
12.
Source: nasa.gov
Title: Tiny Asteroid Discovered Saturday Disintegrates Hours Later Over Southern Africa
Link:https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/asteroids/tiny-asteroid-discovered-saturday-disintegrates-hours-later-over-southern-africa/
13.
Source: jpl.nasa.gov
Title: tiny asteroid discovered saturday disintegrates hours later over southern africa
Link:https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/tiny-asteroid-discovered-saturday-disintegrates-hours-later-over-southern-africa/
14.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ljnnq4eCAY
Source snippet
Asteroid's 22-Million-Year Journey: From Vesta to Earth! | WION Podcast...
15.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=draeiBXnCRA
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Deadly Asteroids: 2018 LA Update for June 4, 2018...
Published: June 2018
16.
Source: nasa.gov
Title: Fireball Leaves Persistent Train over Western Skies
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17.
Source: amsmeteors.org
Title: Asteroid spotted hours before impact with atmosphere over Botswana
Link:https://www.amsmeteors.org/2018/06/asteroid-spotted-hours-before-impact-with-atmosphere-over-botswana/