Skylab, a US space lab, crashed into earth, but its crash caused huge hype in a small town in India.

Photo by NASA on Unsplash


It was the first American space station. As with any space station, it became old, and earth’s gravity pulled it. The USA planned to crash it on a remote part of the world. Unfortunately, it was 1979, so rumors spread faster than rumors. It was a serious rumor which cost many to lose their fortune.

India:

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India was an underdeveloped country in 1979. Due to improper management and corrupt politicians, India fell into a deep trap of financial issues, which further affected its economy. Even having a Radio was considered a luxury in India. During this time, simple misinformation would be a fight between life and death in India. One such rumor connected the crash of a US space station, Skylab and India.

Skylab Rumor:

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Skylab was a US space station that belonged to NASA. The purpose of Sjylab was to record data about the earth’s atmosphere. After a few years of operation, the USA decided to destroy the space lab. The USA passed the information to every country that the Skylab may crash anywhere on earth. The crash of Skylab created a special interest in Karimnagar, a town in India. The town residents heard rumors that the Skylab would crash into their town. The rumor spread very fast that almost the entire town fell for it. The town inhabitants started to vacate their houses, and some sold their property for rock bottom rates and moved to other towns.

Climax:

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Some town inhabitants sold their wealth and distributed it to temples and charity organizations. There was a sudden increase in the insurance policy subscriptions as some clever citizens wanted to encash the crisis. Karimnagar came to the edge of its seat on 12th June 1979 when Skylab was supposed to crash. At last, Skylab crashed into a remote part of Australia, and luckily, no one was hurt. The euphorbia of the Skylab was so huge that a production house made a movie about the incident.

Originally Published in: https://medium.com/history-in-bytes/the-panic-caused-when-a-space-lab-crashed-into-the-earth-f5a3f7591cf2