Several Kodiakans saw something fall from the sky Tuesday morning that may have landed in mountainous terrain on Kodiak Island. The incident prompted 911 calls and a helicopter search was launched from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak, but no crash site was found.
The pre-dawn lightshow happened about 6:45 a.m. and could be seen from several places on Kodiak Island. Some witnesses described a light moving across the sky toward the Gulf of Alaska. Others saw an explosion and red tracers. The light was bright enough to be seen from Kodiak city and Chiniak, about 20 miles away across Chiniak Bay.
Fire in the Sky
Arlington, Virginia -- I know how the world ends, and it isn't with a whimper. You can see humanity's epitaph etched in advance by simply gazing up at the moon on any evening and observing the vast craters created by ancient asteroids hitting the lunar surface.
Earth has suffered many such impacts over its 4.5 billion year history. An extrapolation of lunar data suggests that there have been up to 22,000 asteroid collisions with the Earth creating craters a dozen miles in diameter or bigger. One such impact created the Chesapeake Bay, and someday another will wipe out humanity, assuming some other cataclysm hasn't claimed us first.
When a really big asteroid hits, it kills most of the life on Earth by generating a smothering cloud of toxic gases that blots out sunlight for decades. The bigger, more complex species -- like us -- tend to succumb first.
Earth has suffered many such impacts over its 4.5 billion year history. An extrapolation of lunar data suggests that there have been up to 22,000 asteroid collisions with the Earth creating craters a dozen miles in diameter or bigger. One such impact created the Chesapeake Bay, and someday another will wipe out humanity, assuming some other cataclysm hasn't claimed us first.
When a really big asteroid hits, it kills most of the life on Earth by generating a smothering cloud of toxic gases that blots out sunlight for decades. The bigger, more complex species -- like us -- tend to succumb first.
The impact crater in Peru
A significant cosmic event occurred when a massive meteor struck on September 15th outside the farming village of Carancas, near Lake Titicaca. The meteor created an imposing eight meter (26-foot) deep, 20 meter (65 foot) wide crater. Almost immediately the object was ruled to be a meteor and not something of terrestial origin.
The massive crater emitted strange fumes, which made over 30 villagers violently ill, with headaches and nausea. Reports on the exact number of victims ranged from 30 to "about 200." Speculations on possible "out-of-this-world" causes were rampant.
Police blocked off the crater, and the villagers were transported to hospitals.
The director of the health ministry in the Puno region, Jorge Lopez, said none of the patients was in serious condition but that they would have to undergo blood and neurological tests as a precaution in three to six months.
Residents of Cordoba and Santa Fe claim to have seen, around 7 pm, "an enormous object in the sky" similar to "a blue and green ball" which drew the attenton of hundreds of perople who contacted the media to report the phenomenon.
"I did not see the object but it was without any doubt a bolide that entered the atmosphere and disintegrated. This is very common. They are highly brilliant and can be seen even in the daylight," said Jorge Koglan of the Liga de Astronomia. According to Koglan, this would have been "interplanetary material that hit the ground head-on. It must've occurred very high up, which accounts for its visibility in various locations. The greenish hue is associated with its components."
"I did not see the object but it was without any doubt a bolide that entered the atmosphere and disintegrated. This is very common. They are highly brilliant and can be seen even in the daylight," said Jorge Koglan of the Liga de Astronomia. According to Koglan, this would have been "interplanetary material that hit the ground head-on. It must've occurred very high up, which accounts for its visibility in various locations. The greenish hue is associated with its components."
The countrymen of Carancas (Peru) saw a luminous object that produced a loud sound when it impacted. Apparently it was a meteorite that crashed near the border with Bolivia.
Peruvian astronomers said Thursday that 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.
A fiery meteorite crashed into southern Peru over the weekend, experts confirmed on Wednesday, but they remain puzzled over claims it gave off fumes that made 200 people ill.
Local residents 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.
Local residents 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.
"Those who say they are affected are the product of a collective psychosis," said Jorge Lopez Tejada, health department chief in Puno, the nearest city.
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| ©Los Angeles Times |
Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.
People in a part of northwest Ohio now know why their windows shook Thursday morning from what they thought was an explosion.
Turns out it was a sonic boom.
Turns out it was a sonic boom.
Comment: This article quotes an Air Force officer, "planes aren't allowed to fly fast enough to create a sonic boom over U.S. land, except over some remote areas."
Comment: SOTT has already covered the asteroid/comet threat in its editorial, Forget About Global Warming: We're One Step From Extinction! and Laura Knight-Jadczyk shares her research on the topic in her book, The Secret History of The World and How To Get Out Alive. The question is, why are all these different news sites bringing the subject up NOW ?