Is it a bomb? Is it a plane crash? No, it's space junk landing

"We found a big piece of metal that was very red so we had to wait for it to cool before anyone could approach it," said Ann Kanuna, who told us she owns the land where the object fell.

The giant ring took around two hours to cool down and turn grey – but it had already become a sensation with people arriving to look at it.

The rest of that Monday afternoon - with few people working as it was the day before New Year's Eve - crowds came to view the giant metallic ring.

It was like selfie central, with people coming to pose next to it and great debates about what it could be.

The local authorities in Makueni county - which is around 115km (70 miles) south-east of the capital, Nairobi - were informed.

The Kenya Space Agency (KSA) then heard about it and made arrangements to come and investigate the next day.

But such was the object's fame that Mukuku villagers feared it would be stolen overnight.

Together with local officers, some of them took it in turns to stand guard, lighting a fire nearby. They wanted to keep away potential scrap dealers and others wanting to make money out of the curiosity.

It is said to weigh more than 500kg (1,102lb) - around the same as an adult horse - and is around 2.5m (8ft) in diameter, roughly the size of child's four-seater merry-go-round.

With daylight came more onlookers on New Year's Eve - followed by the KSA team and the media.

It seems the separation ring may have been orbiting Earth for 16 years before making its unexpected appearance in Mukuku.

This is not the first incident of space junk appearing in East Africa.

Just over a year and a half ago some suspected space debris fell over several villages in western Uganda.

And a few days ago, on 8 January, there were unconfirmed reports of what was believed to be space debris burning brightly in the skies above northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia.

As the space industry grows, it is predicted that such incidents will become more frequent - and African governments may need to invest in ways to better detect this speeding space rubbish.

Nasa estimates there are more than 6,000 tonnes of space debris in orbit at the moment.

There are many different estimates about the chances of such junk hitting someone, but most are in the one-in-10,000 range.

Such statistics are little comfort for Mukuku's residents, who cannot help thinking of what damage the ring could have caused had it landed in the centre of the village instead of on farmland.

"We need assurances from the government that it won't happen again," said Mr Mutuku.