Photos of the 'meteor' went viral on social media.
American space agency NASA recently asked an Australian school for details of a reported meteorite crash on their campus on Monday. But despite grabbing the attention of the world's most prominent space agency, the crash turned out to be fake news.
According to 7 News, reports of a meteorite crashing into the grounds of a school in Queensland began to go viral after photos from the 'space landing' were shared on Facebook. The pics were shared on a Facebook page called 'Australia crash investigation unit' yesterday.
Photos show a huge, charred rock smoldering on the grass, with a trail of earth scorched black behind it. They have collected over 2,000 comments and more than 2,400 shares on the social media platform.
"We've had all sorts of inquiries from all around the world, including NASA who asked us to make a report to the Kennedy Space Centre," Malanda State School principal Mark Allen told 7 News.
However, as it turned out, the 'meteorite' was nothing more than a school project.
The school's journalism students were tasked with reporting on the 'meteorite' landing, interviewing witnesses and talking to emergency personnel as part of the assignment.
"The local police loved to get involved for the school and the kids to make it more realistic," a local resident was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. "This is a small town, they didn't expect it (school project) to go viral."
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