AP, etc: In Peru, locals sickened after meteor, or something, whams an Andean plain
This is one for the natural mysteries department (and maybe the mystery will clear soon enough). A fireball over Peru on Saturday night, a maybe 20 meter-wide crater, and 100+ people complaining of nausea and breathing problems — that’s a story. (Over-punctilious unit conversion alert: some accounts say it’s 66 feet wide and it’s doubtful many in Peru use an English unit tape measure. More sensible outlets say 65 feet, or better yet, more than 60 feet. And anyway, the release below says 15 m wide. Other accounts say 17 meters. Even 30 m. Go figure. It’s a big hole.)
A local health department official said, according to the AP account, that toxic fumes from the crater caused the illnesses, and that a meteor made the crater not far from Lake Titicaca. A Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory meteoriticist says (again, via AP) however that’s a stretch. Meteors don’t tend to contain toxic volatiles. But maybe the terrestrial dust and muck raised by the impact could do that. Add the anxiety and potential for hysteria, that could do it. Maybe it’s not an impact at all. A Peruvian government report by three geologists is due tomorrow. Some reports mention glowing material. That’s odd. Meteorites may flare in the air, but they’re so cold inside the glow disappears immediately when they stop. Maybe it’s panspermic alien microbes. Maybe not. Swamp gas? The Brit press loves this story.
-CP
Other stories:
Telegraph (UK) Sally Peck; Agence France-Presse; Bloomberg Alex Morales reports some visitors to the fresh crater developed skin lesions; Living-in-Peru news site says it was a chondrite; Register (UK) Lester Haines says 600 got sick; Guardian (UK) Rory Carroll; BBC ;
And for a sensible word: Wired News blog by Patrick Di Justo.
Grist for the Mill: The Peruvian Ministry of Health issued a press announcement in Spanish here.
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