wait till the smoke clears out........Peruvian meteor

Picked this up on another board last night:

Scientist Confirms Meteorite in Puno, Peru is a Chondrite

(LIP-ir) -- Peru's official government news agency reported this afternoon that scientists which went to the town of Carancas in the Region of Puno, Peru, have confirmed that the glowing object which fell from the sky on Saturday afternoon was indeed a meteorite.

Volcanologist for Peru's Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute (INGEMMET), Luisa Macedo, confirmed that a chondrite meteorite had caused the 17 meter (55 foot) wide and 5 meter (16 foot) deep crater when it landed on earth.

It was reported that with the help of the Desaguadero Municipality, the water would be drained out of the crater to establish the exact size of the hole that was made by the chondrite meteorite.

Macedo explained that the chondrite was not radioactive and did not have any toxic gases or substances which could be harmful to peoples health. On the other hand, Macedo stated that it had not yet been established if the water supply in the province of Chucuito had been contaminated or not.

Aside from the analysis Macedo is performing, the National University of Altiplano, Peru's Nuclear Energy Institute, the National Institute of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Health and a Bolivian university are all taking part in the analysis of the area.
 

Here's an update. I wonder what they're going to name this one?

Experts Confirm Meteorite Crash in Peru
By MONTE HAYES, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

(09-19) 13:01 PDT LIMA, Peru (AP) --


A fiery meteorite crashed into southern Peru over the weekend, experts confirmed on Wednesday. But they were still puzzling over claims that it gave off fumes that sickened 200 people.


Witnesses told reporters that a fiery ball fell from the sky and smashed into the desolate Andean plain near the Bolivian border Saturday morning.


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.


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."


Jorge Lopez, director of the health department in the state where the meteorite crashed, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that 200 people suffered headaches, nausea and respiratory problems caused by "toxic" fumes emanating from the crater, which is some 65 feet wide and 15 feet deep.


But a team of doctors sent to the isolated site, 3 1/2 hours travel from the state capital of Puno, said they found no evidence the meteorite had sickened people, the Lima newspaper El Comercio reported Wednesday.


Modesto Montoya, a member of the team, was quoted as saying doctors also had found no sign of radioactive contamination among families living nearby, but had taken blood samples from 19 people to be sure.


He said fear may have provoked psychosomatic ailments.


"When a meteorite falls, it produces horrid sounds when it makes contact with the atmosphere," he told the paper. "It is as if a giant rock is being sanded. Those sounds could have frightened them."


Justina Limache, 74, told El Comercio that when she heard the thunderous roar from the sky, she abandoned her flock of alpacas and ran to her small home with her 8-year-old granddaughter. She said that after the meteorite struck, small rocks rained down on the roof of her house for several minutes and she feared the house was going to collapse.


Meteor expert Ursula Marvin said that if people were sickened, "it wouldn't be the meteorite itself, but the dust it raises."


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 Cambridge, Mass. "It's a very superficial thing."


___


Associated Press writer Edison Lopez contributed to this report from Lima, Peru.
 

Hello, anybody out there? I guess you have all packed your bags & headed for Peru with your metal detectors........................ ;D
 

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