By the size of the crater (30 meters wide x 6 meters deep), I'd be tempted to call it a small asteroid.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070918...uhealthoffbeat

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I would tend to put that one in the bad reporting thread.
A crater that size is one big story in itself.
And, there's no indication that anyone has any clue what could cause the illness?

Let's hope this is only a preliminary reporting problem. But; the fact that they already catagorized it "offbeat" (by the link), and it took 3 days for the story, tells me they are going to let it drop.

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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

Yea, I saw that this morn....bad meteorite...making people sick...no donut for you.

Probably the Puruvian government testing out their latest chemical weapon.

A crater in a volcanic region? Strange odor, people getting ill? I know, it must be a meteorite!

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Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.
-- Richard Feynman

http://forgetomori.com/2007/science/...rater-in-peru/

http://www.livinginperu.com/news/4719

Pictures of the impact and more info.

http://video.nbc11.com/player/?id=157540

Video.

Villagers fall ill after fireball hits Peru

Radio reports that fumes from meteorite crater have sickened 600

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20838944/

Why is it that in all the pictures the "crater" just doesn't look like it is 30 meters across?

...and where did the water come from...is it ground water?

...and how could this make 600 people sick...I'm guessing perhaps mass psychosis?

As you can tell, I think that there's something really "fishy" about all this.

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"The facts gentlemen, and nothing but the facts, for careful eyes are narrowly watching." Isaac Asimov

Gas explosion?

Did anyone actually see anything to fall?

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Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.
-- Richard Feynman

Well, I guess we can say the scene has been contaminated. The people were throwing rocks into the water. Let's get a backhoe and dig out whatever is there and get it to a lab.

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(By the way, I hate it that so many papers in the areas of planetary science and geology are not easily available to the dreaded "non-subscribers". It is like they are screaming at me: "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH". Good, I feel better now.)

"Quaerendo inventis"

Hey look...A hole, from a meteor strike...

But wait, it's not only just a Hole from a meteor strike...

It's a Hole from a meteor strike filled with stinky space water...

Hey look...theres something moving under the water...

Quick, everyone grab a Rock and kill it...

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Jami Cat
Astronomy is looking up... :)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/sci...00/7000760.stm

A BBC link, the most respected source that i´ve found about this.

Thanks for the link...at least in this picture "it" looks to be closer to 30 meters across.

Now that I'm looking again at the first picture that Orion posted, and it doesn't look like a impact crater so much as it looks like a hole someone dug in the ground.

I know looks can deceive, but shouldn't there be a raised rim of some sort? The "crater" appears to be level with the surrounding terrain, which somehow doesn't seem "right".

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"The facts gentlemen, and nothing but the facts, for careful eyes are narrowly watching." Isaac Asimov

Apparently they think it was a chondrite.

I guess it could have contained a appreciable amount of sulfur (or iron sulfide) which turns to sulfuric acid in highly heated water....hmmm.

Quite interesting.


Another report states that "the animals aren't eating" (apparently they are more cautious than humans ) "and the humans are stuttering".

Yep that's a sure sign its a meteorite alright.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7001897.stm

The BBC article, in english.

Well apparently it's confirmed to be a Chondrite...
http://www.livinginperu.com/news-473...is-a-chondrite

Maybe it broke through to a water layer with nasty volcanic gas dissolved in it?

Well, that's interesting if true.

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Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.
-- Richard Feynman

My first thought was that it was a small volcanic eruption. But given the fact that people did see a fireball and a large expolsion, and there mass been no follow up activity, plus the supposed chondritic fragments, then it may be a small imact. There certainly is a raised rim.

Some metorites, especially the carbaonceous ones, contain minerals that are reactive in water, that might explain the smell. Also if the grounfwater was rich indissolved H2S you could get some noxious gasses too.

Remember we have neve been up close with an impact this size before so soon after it happened. It took days if not weeks to get to the Sikote Alin site.

It's very interesting whatever it is.

Now in the picture from this link, there does seem to be a bit of a raised rim...also it has now shrunk from 30 to 17 meters across.

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"The facts gentlemen, and nothing but the facts, for careful eyes are narrowly watching." Isaac Asimov

That's the point I brought up in my previous post ...chondrites can be sulfur rich which could form sulfuric acid upon heat + water. Volcanism isn't required.
Definitely can make one sick.




.

Could this be as mundane as the result of a commercial airliner with a leaky toilet dropping some "green ice?

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Not with a crater, and fireball.

Anyway, CNN's story is marginally better, and they have a picture of a crater.

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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

That was my first thought too, though if it was a meteor, it is possible that the massive disruption of volcanic ground released quite a bit of otherwise contained noxious crap skyward, resulting in the sicknesses.

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

That was my first thought too, though if it was a meteor, it is possible that the massive disruption of volcanic ground released quite a bit of otherwise contained noxious crap skyward, resulting in the sicknesses.
Yeah, but I bet the actual cases of sickness are much less numerous than the report. I suspect, as was already mentioned, a lot of it is a simple case of mass psychosis. Group hypochondria.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

If they have found actual meteorites, the case is settled and the people have witnessed a truly incredible event. However, this whole story sounds so odd that I'm not convinced yet.

PS. A news piece of my local astronomy association tells that the vulcanologist who said it's a chondrite meteor is not a meteor specialist. It requires a meteor specialist to definitely confirm it is a true meteor.

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Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.
-- Richard Feynman

Oh my God...

Andrea Thompson
Staff Writer
SPACE.com Wed Sep 19, 2:00 PM ET

Scientists Doubt Meteorite Striked in Peru


By MONTE HAYES, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 21 minutes ago

Experts confirm meteorite crash in Peru


Peru: Doctors Aid in Rising Number of Illnesses after Meteorite Crash

Just a really naive question, but even assuming it was a meteorite, is this really so incredible? Doesn't the earth get struck by a number of meteorites like this every year? Or is the size of the crater (about 20 meters across) really extraordinary?

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As above, so below

The water is surely indicative of the local water table and rainwater.

I have a hard time believing that a meteor small enough to make that crater would release enough SO2 to make that many people ill in the open air.

Well, I don't know, could depend on what they served for lunch.

Meteors usually burn in the atmosphere and those who fall down come at the terminal velocity. At that speed the meteorite creates only a small hole in the ground is soft, not a crater. Such events are relatively common. But actual impact crater forming events are much rarer: it has been sixty years from the last time a new impact crater was documented (in Sikhote-Alin near Vladivostok, Russia).

Regarding this Peruvian event, it seems more and more likely that the hole is terrestrial origin.

__________________
Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.
-- Richard Feynman