600 sick in Peru after 'meteorite' crashes:

[Praxius]

600 sick in Peru after 'meteorite' crashes

Hundreds of people flocked to get medical treatment after an apparent meteorite crashed in a remote part of southern Peru over the weekend, health officials said. The fiery ball that witnesses say fell from the sky Saturday morning smashed into the Andean plain near the Bolivian border, leaving a crater 30 metres wide and six metres deep. Scientists are on their way to the site to collect samples in order to verify whether the crater was caused by a meteorite. About 600 people sought medical treatment after visiting the site, authorities say. Jorge Lopez, the health director in Puno, say most complained of headaches, vomiting and nausea that they believe was caused by noxious fumes from the crater. A local resident told the BBC that the object is buried in the ground. "That is why we are asking for an analysis, because we are worried for our people. They are afraid. A bull is dead and some other animals are already sick," said Heber Mamani. Experts have said a meteorite can react with elements in the earth when it strikes the surface, producing gases that later dissipate. Three geologists from Peru's Geophysics Institute are expected to present a report on the incident Thursday. But meteor expert Ursula Marvin questioned the theory, saying the health problems were not likely from a meteorite itself but the dust it raised. A meteorite "wouldn't get much gas out of the Earth," said Marvin, who has studied the objects since 1961 at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Massachusetts. "It's a very superficial thing." Hernando Tavera, a geophysicist at the institute, said similar cases were reported in 2002 and 2004 elsewhere in southern Peru but never confirmed as meteorites.

Maybe they'll mutate into super humans or Ninja Turtles.... but it is interesting the ammount of people who have gotten sick from this.

[Milton Bradley]

Yes, a very interesting story.


They will turn into zombies.

[Praxius]

The interesting part is that they claimed they got sick from the fumes from the impact, yet this other expert who's been studying metiors since 61' that the gas vapors wouldn't have played any big role in the matter, and she claims it's from the dust it raised.....

but that doesn't make much sense either, since I have encountered inhaling a lot of dust before, and I have not gotten sick like how they describe..... therefore if it was actually dust that affected them, then there had to be something else in the dust, or it can't be dust from the earth......

Frigged if I know.

[SoylentGreen]

Possibly the meteor had the unfortunate luck of landing on top of a cocaine producing factory or an illegal toxic dump site.

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: Praxius The interesting part is that they claimed they got sick from the fumes from the impact, yet this other expert who's been studying metiors since 61' that the gas vapors wouldn't have played any big role in the matter, and she claims it's from the dust it raised..... but that doesn't make much sense either, since I have encountered inhaling a lot of dust before, and I have not gotten sick like how they describe..... therefore if it was actually dust that affected them, then there had to be something else in the dust, or it can't be dust from the earth...... Frigged if I know.

Well, to be fair, you probably weren't inhaling dust from a tropical rain forest with all those poisonous organisms contained within.

[Zeebadee]

Maybe it wasn't a meteorite at all, but an old rorsat with it's nuclear power source.

[Praxius]

Quote by: Milton Bradley Well, to be fair, you probably weren't inhaling dust from a tropical rain forest with all those poisonous organisms contained within.

^ Doesn't look like it's anywhere near any jungle or poisonous plantlife..... perhaps chemicals in the ground.... but even that would be remote.

Source of photo and additional info:

BBC NEWS | Americas | Scores ill in Peru 'meteor crash'

.......But some experts have questioned whether it was a meteorite or some other object that landed in Carancas. "Increasingly we think that people witnessed a fireball, which are not uncommon, went off to investigate and found a lake of sedimentary deposit, which may be full of smelly, methane rich organic matter," said Dr Caroline Smith, a meteorite expert at the London-based Natural History Museum. "This has been mistaken for a crater." A team of scientists is on its way to the site to collect samples and verify whether it was indeed a meteorite. Geologists have called on the authorities to stop people going near the crash site. A local journalist, Martine Hanlon, told the BBC experts did not believe the meteor would make anybody sick, but they did think a chemical reaction caused by its contact with the ground could release toxins such as sulphur and arsenic. An engineer from the Peruvian Nuclear Energy Institute told AFP news agency that no radiation had been detected from the crater. He ruled out any possibility that the fallen object might be a satellite. Afraid Nestor Quispe, the mayor of the municipality to which Carancas belongs, told the BBC that many residents had been affected. "Lots of people from the town of Carancas have fallen ill. They have headaches, eye problems, irritated skin, nausea and vomiting," he said. "I think there's also a certain psychological fear in the community." Local resident Heber Mamani said a bull and some other animals had become ill. "That is why we are asking for an analysis, because we are worried for our people. They are afraid," he said. Another local villager, Romulo Quispe, said people were worried that the water was no longer safe to drink. "This is the water we use for the animals, and for us, for everyone, and it looks like it is contaminated," he said. "We don't know what is going on at the moment, that is what we are worried about." The incident took place on Saturday night, when people near Carancas in the remote Puno region, some 1,300km (800 miles) south of the Peruvian capital, Lima, reported seeing a fireball in the sky coming towards them. The object then hit the ground, leaving a 30m (98ft) wide and 6m (20ft) deep crater. The crater spewed what officials described as fetid, noxious gases. Jorge Lopez, a health director in Puno, told Reuters news agency he had an irritated throat and itchy nose after visiting the site.

So they're leaning more so towards a chemical reaction to the impact.... I suppose it's possible, but is it just those who visited the crash site whom are getting sick, or is it the entire village nearby? If that's the case, then this seems a bit worse then a bit of gas being released.

[Thanatos]

Why is there water in that freshly dug meteor crater and no char marks in the surrounding area?

I think we're looking at a hole in the ground of ordinary proportions and a negative placebo that's gone viral.

[arkemoda]

great post..............

[grandpa]

You never know, it could be another Cassini-style space probe.
Cassini–Huygens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maybe it crashed into the earth and spread plutonium?

Grandpa h.

[Praxius]

Could have had an impact on a water bed location.... could have rained.... could have been a chunk of ice from space.... could have been one of the original monkeys shot off into space and got lost..... who knows?

[Praxius]

Update:



Scientists puzzled as Peru meteorite details emerge

Peruvian astronomers said evidence shows a meteorite crashed near Lake Titicaca over the weekend, leaving an elliptical crater and magnetic rock fragments in an impact powerful enough to register on seismic charts. As other astronomers learn more details, they too said it appears likely a meteorite hit Earth on Saturday — a rare occurrence. The Earth is constantly bombarded with objects from outer space, but most burn up in the atmosphere and never reach the planet's surface. Jay Melosh, an expert on impact craters and professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona, said only one in a thousand rocks people claim are meteorites turn out to be real. Melosh was skeptical at first, initially calling it a non-meteorite and suggesting the crater might have formed from a volcanic eruption. Then scientists learned of more details about the crater, as well as witness descriptions of a thunderous roar and a rain of smaller rocks coming down. "It begins to sound more likely to me that this object could indeed be a meteorite," Melosh said Thursday. Such impacts are rare and astronomers still want to do other tests to confirm the strike. Other details don't add up, they said — such as witness accounts of water in the muddy crater boiling for 10 minutes from the heat. Meteorites are actually cold when they hit Earth, astronomers say, since their outer layers burn up and fall away before impact. Experts also puzzled over claims 200 local residents were made ill by fumes from the crater. Doctors who examined them found no evidence of illness related to the meteorite and one suggested a psychosomatic reaction to the sight and sound of the plunging meteorite. More details emerged when astrophysicist Jose Ishitsuka of Peru's Geophysics Institute reached the site about 10 kilometres from Lake Titicaca. He confirmed a meteorite caused a crater 13 metres wide and 4.5 metres deep, the institute's president, Ronald Woodman, said Thursday. Ishitsuka recovered a 7.6-centimetre magnetic fragment and said it contained iron, a mineral found in all rocks from space. The impact also registered a magnitude-1.5 tremor on the institute's seismic equipment — that's as much as an explosion of 4.5 tonnes of dynamite, Woodman said. Local residents described a fiery ball falling from the sky and smashing into the desolate Andean plain. Doctors said at the site they had found no sign of radioactive contamination among families living nearby. But they said they had taken samples of blood, urine and hair to analyze. Peasants living near the crater said they smelled a sulphureous odour for at least an hour after the meteorite struck and it had provoked upset stomachs and headaches. But Ishitsuka said he doubts reports of a sulphureous smell. Peter Schultz, a meteor crater specialist at Brown University who is eager to visit the Peruvian site, said the latest details suggest this might be an unusual type of meteor strike, and given the crater's size, the original meteoroid had to have been at least three metres in diameter before breaking up. "With everything I see reported now, it seems to me like we just got hit," Schultz said.

So there you go... perhaps there's a Superman Baby under the water.

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: Praxius Doesn't look like it's anywhere near any jungle or poisonous plantlife..... perhaps chemicals in the ground.... but even that would be remote.

Indeed, I appears that I was just assuming it was in the tropical region of Peru.


Perhaps there was some sort of chemical reaction from materials contained within the meteorite mixing with salts, and other minerals in the earth there when it vaporaized.


Not so far fetched in my opinion.

[Chaossaber314]

Damn Kryptonite isn't supposed to be dangerous to people. Maybe this village is an elaborate hoax of true kryptonians in hiding!

[Thanatos]

Quote by: grandpa You never know, it could be another Cassini-style space probe. Cassini–Huygens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Maybe it crashed into the earth and spread plutonium? Grandpa h.

If we're going to be paranoid and speculative, lets make it a spy satellite nobody will admit to owning.

[Praxius]

Quote by: Thanatos If we're going to be paranoid and speculative, lets make it a spy satellite nobody will admit to owning.

Ok, ok.... it was mine.... that's why I posted the news first

But don't tell anybody.... I was using it to spy on Bush, but Bush shot it down with one of his other secret satelites.

[ruksak]

Huh huh hu huh.........He said titi caca................. huh uhuhuh

[PatrickHenry]

Quote by: Thanatos If we're going to be paranoid and speculative, lets make it a spy satellite nobody will admit to owning.

Pravda says it was a US spy satellite:
American spy satellite downed in Peru as US nuclear attack on Iran thwarted - Pravda.Ru
But Pravda has become a tabloid, heh...

They are tying it to the US military's reluctance to go to war against Iran. Saying the military downed their own satellite in order to deny targeting to the warmongers in Washington. I don't give it much credence.

[Thanatos]

Quote by: PatrickHenry Pravda says it was a US spy satellite: American spy satellite downed in Peru as US nuclear attack on Iran thwarted - Pravda.Ru But Pravda has become a tabloid, heh... They are tying it to the US military's reluctance to go to war against Iran. Saying the military downed their own satellite in order to deny targeting to the warmongers in Washington. I don't give it much credence.

As much as I'd like to gloat about having called that one, this is Pravda and it is filed under opinion. Could it be that this was not an impact at all, but rather signs of a lost civilization at Earth's core trying to blast their way out?

Another human civilization may live inside Earth's hollows - Pravda.Ru

[PatrickHenry]

Lol!