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Isn't this the plot of a Sci-Fi movie?

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Perry White, Sep 18, 2007.

  1. Perry White

    Perry White Active Member

    Or, we're all gonna die :-\

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070918/sc_afp/peruhealthoffbeat

    Mystery illness strikes after meteorite hits Peruvian village
    Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.

    Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia.

    Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor," local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.

    Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.

    Rescue teams and experts were dispatched to the scene, where the meteorite left a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide) and 20-foot-deep (six-meter-deep) crater, said local official Marco Limache.

    "Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned," he said.
     
  2. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton.
     
  3. Perry White

    Perry White Active Member

    Ahh, very good. It sounded familiar but I couldn't think of it.
     
  4. Colonel Angus

    Colonel Angus Member

    Spaceweather.com says ...

    PERUVIAN METEORITE: There is much discussion on the Internet today concerning a reported meteorite impact in Peru which may have gouged a 10- to 30-meter wide crater. Bad-smelling fumes from the crater are said to have sickened dozens and perhaps hundreds of people in a nearby village. Could this be true?

    There is indeed a hole in the ground in Peru, and by all accounts it smells bad, but it is not likely of cosmic origin. In order to blast a 30-meter crater, a meteorite would have to hit the ground with about as much energy as 1 kiloton of TNT--akin to a tactical nuclear weapon. This would leave a clear signal in worldwide seismic and infrasound records, but so far no such signals are being reported by authorities.

    In short, we remain unconvinced. Stay tuned for updates.

    [​IMG]
     
  5. Perry White

    Perry White Active Member

    Peruvian Geophysicist Confirms Claim of Meteorite Crash


    Jose Mechare, a scientist with Peru's Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute, said a geologist had confirmed that it was a "rocky meteorite,'' based on the fragments analyzed.

    [However, an expert on meteorites told SPACE.com that for a small object like this to reach the surface, it would have to be an iron meteorite, not the stony variety.]

    He said water in the meteorite's muddy crater boiled for maybe 10 minutes from the heat and could have given off a vapor that sickened people, and scientists were taking water samples.

    "We are not completely certain that there was no contamination,'' Mechare said.''
    http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070919_ap_meteorite_peru.html
     
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