Scores ill in Peru 'meteor crash'

glenc (Glen) · #1 19-09-2007, 05:22 PM

Hundreds of people in Peru have needed treatment after an object from space - said to be a meteorite - plummeted to Earth in a remote area, officials say. They say the object left a deep crater after crashing down over the weekend near the town of Carancas in the Andes.
People who have visited (the) scene have been complaining of headaches, vomiting and nausea after inhaling gases.
A team of scientists is on its way to the site to collect samples and verify whether it was indeed a meteorite.
See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7001897.stm

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #2 20-09-2007, 08:33 AM

Yes, I heard about that.
I think that they all had a drink from a bad well or something.

csb (Craig) · #3 20-09-2007, 11:46 AM

Thanks, it'll be interesting to read what the actual phenomenon was.

Before clicking the link, I thought perhaps the nausea was caused be gases released from the ground - that's if it is a meteorite.

I hope it is. I remember a few years ago in Australia, perhaps country SA, that a meteor was thought to have crashed into swamp area - people reported seeing a flash and noted the impact area. Some scientists investigated and found a deep hole/tunnel about 10 cm wide. They determined it probably was a meteor. The meteorite was never actually detected - too deep.

Outbackmanyep · #4 20-09-2007, 12:39 PM

Saw that on the news last night, it looked like one guy recovered a tiny piece, must have went off with a BANG when it happened!

JimmyH155 · #5 20-09-2007, 01:10 PM

Could be an alien ship crash landed and released toxic bacteria into the air to subdue the Earthlings

Wasn't in Area 52 was it??

Ingo · #6 20-09-2007, 01:38 PM

I saw a lot of meteors looking up @ cygnus a few days ago. Weird.

Ric · #7 20-09-2007, 01:54 PM

It's the Blob

thorsdad · #8 20-09-2007, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyH155

Could be an alien ship crash landed and released toxic bacteria into the air to subdue the Earthlings

Wasn't in Area 52 was it??

Anyone see the recent version of War of the Worlds. They had their ships buried underground

.

Scarry thought hey,

visitors.

Glenhuon (Bill) · #9 20-09-2007, 04:20 PM

Maybe it hit the village septic tank

csb (Craig) · #10 21-09-2007, 02:19 AM

You lot are as bad as the makers of "When Mars Attacks". This is serious science!

circumpolar (Matt) · #11 21-09-2007, 06:22 AM

Phil Plait the Bad Astronomer has a nice entry on his blog.

http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2...issile-mayhem/

Maybe SCUD MISSILES!

Glenhuon (Bill) · #12 21-09-2007, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by circumpolar

Phil Plait the Bad Astronomer has a nice entry on his blog.

http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2...issile-mayhem/

Maybe SCUD MISSILES!

"Aye, and if my grandmother had wheels she'd be a wagon" ( Montgomery Scott)

astro_nutt · #13 23-09-2007, 12:31 PM

You think after some like this..an object falls from the sky and makes a decent crater and anyone who visits the scene without proper precautions..ie..a biosuit...then falls ill..that more investigation would follow..I mean if this happen in a densely populated City I'm sure scores of Scientists from around the World would study a rare event like this..It'll be interesting to see what they'll find..and if we'd be informed!!!..another question arises..if it was a meteorite and it has produced harmful effects..is it...(and hopefully is)...the only one???..hmmmmm!

dwyman · #14 24-09-2007, 01:46 AM

Yeah, this happened a couple weeks ago already. Shouldn't there be some answers?

bird (Anthony Wesley) · #15 24-09-2007, 10:00 AM

They've all been neuralised, so they don't remember anything

Bird

auroradude · #16 24-09-2007, 10:13 AM

Here's some good info on the meteorite from National Geographic.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...teor-peru.html

I had thought it might have hit a pile of alpaca manure causing the smell and illnesses but I guess it was just good old arsenic-contaminated ground water.

xelasnave · #17 24-09-2007, 10:22 AM

I recall they mentioned it contained Örganic" material.. what does this mean.. I thought organic had some sort of "life" relationship.

I noticed a few fire balls around that particular time... maybe its their first wave of settlers...
alex

auroradude · #18 24-09-2007, 05:28 PM

Organic simply refers to any substance containing carbon. It may or may not be related to life. Like...Meteor sh*t!

xelasnave · #19 24-09-2007, 08:53 PM

mmm organic diamonds ...what a marketing idea
alex

csb (Craig) · #20 25-09-2007, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xelasnave

mmm organic diamonds ...what a marketing idea
alex

mmm ? They're not edible

And it doesn't sound romantic nor glamorous, although using superfluous adjectives is a common marketing tool. However that one would never be used to market diamonds.