INDIANAPOLIS — Long before the internet and search engines, folks often resorted to calling the local news to get to the bottom of unusual occurrences.
That’s exactly what Albert Hannemann did 40 years ago when strange pearl-like objects mysteriously appeared on his driveway and in his lawn.
“I feel like I am walking on a type of beach sand, crushing under my feet,” Hannemann told WRTV reporter Tracey Horth. “I saw my son-in-law here and I said, ‘Joe, look at what is on the ground.'”
According to Hannemann, his son-in-law said the material must’ve appeared during a rainstorm.
“We’ve lived here since 1957, and we’ve never had this before,” Hannemann said.
Horth described the white and green odorless objects as hard, and taking on a chalk-like texture when crushed.
WRTV took a sample of the unknown substance to the Indiana State Board of Health where three employees came to the same conclusion: It was fertilizer.
Although Hannemann said he didn’t order any fertilizer, the theories were plentiful.
“My first theory is they made the wrong delivery,” said one employee.
While WRTV was never able to determine the origin of the fertilizer, we were successful in identifying the substance, devoting a one minute and forty-five second report that could’ve been solved in less than five seconds today.
