© Press Service of the Ural Federal University/ Alexandra KhlopotovaThe site of a meteorite hit in the Chelyabinsk Region. Small 0.5-1 cm pieces of black matter resembling rock were found around the ice hole caused by the meteorite.
Scientists have confirmed the extra-terrestrial origin of dozens of tiny fragments found near Chebarkul Lake in Russia's Chelyabinsk region. Local opportunists meanwhile began selling alleged pieces of the space rock in a bid to make a quick fortune.
"We have just finished the research and confirm that the fragments found by our expedition in the area of Chebarkul Lake are meteorite by nature," Viktor Grohovsky of the Ural Federal University told RIA.
The space object exploded into at least seven large pieces and hundreds of small ones, researchers claimed. One of the big fragments fell into the Chebarkul Lake, and is believed to have formed an ice-hole 8 meters in diameter.
The team was not allowed to inspect the ice crater itself, but around the hole scientists collected several dozens small fragments of the rock about 0.5 - 1 centimeter in diameters which were sent for examination.
So far the researchers were able to confirm the samples' celestial origin out of the 53 small particles sampled.
"This is a stone meteorite, an ordinary chondrite. We have diagnosed all the common minerals found there- the metallic iron, and olivine, and sulfite," Grohovsky elaborated. The scientists at the "Nanotech" center evaluated that over eight percent of the mass of the examined samples consisted of these metals.
© RIA NovostiAn ice hole in Lake Chabarkul, Chelyabinsk Region, where pieces of a meteorite could allegedly fall December 15.
The researchers aim to conduct further analysis before registering "Chebarkul Meteorite" in the international catalogue.
Earlier, a team of Emergency Ministry divers have examined the floor bed of the lake in search of the meteorite, but were unable to find anything resembling a big fragment of the rock, which is now rumored to further break-up upon impact.
Meanwhile, residents of the region are still speculating about the incident and putting forward their own theories on what really happened, RT producer Lida Vasilevskaya reported from Chelyabinsk.
"No, it definitely wasn't a meteor. I don't know what it was, but not that," one local stated. "It was a stage for a missile. For sure!" another claimed.
A rock estimated to weigh around 7,000 tons and be traveling at 40,000mph exploded over the Urals Mountains on Friday, scattering debris for miles and injuring some 1,240 people, including 299 children.