(1) Scientists tell us that they were formed by a meteoritic impact as particles of terrestrial material thrown into orbit by the impact and then shaped into tektites by their fall back to earth, or when fused rock was splashed off the surface of the moon as a result of the meteoritic impact.

(2) Tektites approximately 600,000-700,000 years old are strewn over Australia, Indochina and the Philippines, and NASA has linked their formation with that of the lunar crater Tycho.

(1) Aboriginal medicine men in central Australia carry tektites from Mt. Magnet in their beards, believing that it will help them maintain telepathic contact. Some Aboriginal tribes use tektites for healing. Medicine men will palm a tektite from an afflicted person, pretending that it was the cause of the illness.

(2) The Sanskrit name for them, Agni Mani, is generally translated into English as "fire pearl" or "teardrops from the moon."

(3) Paleolithic humans in present-day Czechoslovakia were using moldavites, a type of tektite which is green in color, as ornaments as well as tools as long as 30,000 years ago.

Tools and amulets made from tektites have also been found in Indochina, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

word tektite comes from a Greek word meaning "molten"