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3 Ton Meteorite Stolen

morpheus83 writes "Russian news agency Interfax is reporting that thieves have stolen a three-ton meteorite from the yard of the Tunguska Space Event foundation, whose director said it was the part of meteor that caused a massive explosion in Siberia in 1908. The massive three tonne rock was bought to Krasnoyarsk after an 2004 expedition to the site of the so-called Tunguska event- a mysterious mid air explosion over Siberia in 1908 was 1,000 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The foundation's director Yury Lavbin claimed to have discovered the wreckage of an alien spacecraft during the expedition."

273 comments

  1. I am thinkink.... by spookymonster · · Score: 5, Funny

    ....vas Moose and Squirrel?

    --
    - Despite popular opinion, I am not perfect.
    1. Re:I am thinkink.... by Spudtrooper · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, obviously the rock was made of kryptonite, which leads to one prime (bald) suspect...

    2. Re:I am thinkink.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So... some yahoos with minimal equipment can steal a 3 ton meteorite, but we can't get miners out of a coal mine?

      Huh?

    3. Re:I am thinkink.... by Surt · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It takes time to move thousands of tons of rock, even with the best equipment. Especially if you're interested in not causing further cave-in. I mean, we could nuke the mine, and get down to the miners no problem. But their odds of survival would be considerably lower using this strategy.

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    4. Re:I am thinkink.... by nmb3000 · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, obviously the rock was made of kryptonite, which leads to one prime (bald) suspect...

      Look, I know he's Slashdot's favorite whipping boy, but would it be possible to leave Ballmer out of just one discussion!?

      --
      "What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
      /)
    5. Re:I am thinkink.... by camusflage · · Score: 3, Funny

      Look, I know he's Slashdot's favorite whipping boy, but would it be possible to leave Ballmer out of just one discussion!?

      Nope. Not Ballmer. My money's on Karl Rove. This rock of kryptonite dissappears and he resigns? Well, isn't that con-VEEEEEEEEEEEn-ient? His reason of "spending more time with my family" rings completely hollow, as one has to have a soul to enjoy family, and according to Wikipedia, Rove sold his in a deal to get a SECOND term for GWB. More likely, he's going to be using it in a plot to taint consumer products to cause tree huggers, gays, strict constitutionalists, and other riff raff to keel over. My spidey senses tell me so.

      --
      The truth about Scientology, Xenu, and you: Operation Clambake
    6. Re:I am thinkink.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WRONG!

    7. Re:I am thinkink.... by joelil · · Score: 2, Funny

      Nahh it was evil Lord Xenu who stole it...

      --
      Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers.
    8. Re:I am thinkink.... by Homr+Zodyssey · · Score: 1

      It takes time to move thousands of tons of rock, even with the best equipment.

      I think that was the GP's point. This meteorite was "thousands of tons of rock"...
    9. Re:I am thinkink.... by complexmath · · Score: 1

      From the article (emphasis mine): "... thieves have stolen a three-tonne meteorite..."

    10. Re:I am thinkink.... by Homr+Zodyssey · · Score: 1

      Oops. My bad. I mis-read what I was pasting...I thought he said "thousands of pounds". My apologies, Surt.

    11. Re:I am thinkink.... by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      Also, from another angle, this is news reported from Russia. Russia's news is almost ways completely made-up, or at least mostly made-up. There's a good chance nothing was stolen from anywhere. (Pravda reports UFO sightings as fact frequently.)

    12. Re:I am thinkink.... by vimh42 · · Score: 1

      "No, obviously the rock was made of kryptonite, which leads to one prime (bald) suspect..."

      Jean Luc Picard?

    13. Re:I am thinkink.... by schlyne · · Score: 1

      No! Clearly it's a massive conspiracy cover up by the likes of the Cigarette Smoking Man and his crew.

      --
      I love deadlines. I like the "whoosh" sound they make as they fly by. -- Douglas Adams
    14. Re:I am thinkink.... by poopdeville · · Score: 1

      Three tonnes is .003 thousand tonnes.

      --
      After all, I am strangely colored.
    15. Re:I am thinkink.... by BMonger · · Score: 1

      I just have one question...

      Where in the world in Carmen Sandiego?

    16. Re:I am thinkink.... by maamold · · Score: 1

      Pinky and The Brain??

    17. Re:I am thinkink.... by stonedcat · · Score: 0

      Lrn2watchx-files.... he's dead, For real this time.

      --
      You can't take the sky from me.
    18. Re:I am thinkink.... by ksd1337 · · Score: 1

      I have one also... Where is Waldo?

    19. Re:I am thinkink.... by Hucko · · Score: 1

      USAians, meet Russians. Remember large amount of money spent on developing a device that would write upside down/in microgravity? Russians took a pencil. Sounds like a similar case...

      --
      Semi-automatic amateur armchair Australian philosopher; conjecture ready at any moment...
    20. Re:I am thinkink.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    21. Re:I am thinkink.... by danlock4 · · Score: 0

      Precisely! ...and 3 tonnes is 3.30693393 tons [tonnes vs. tons]

      --
      To .sig or not to .sig, that is the question.
    22. Re:I am thinkink.... by darkciti · · Score: 1

      How the fuck does someone steal a 3 TON rock? I call bullshit.

    23. Re:I am thinkink.... by rob13572468 · · Score: 1

      isnt it obvious?... once the black oil seeps out and takes over the first couple of people, their super-alien strenght would easily allow them to move it... the real question is did they get the weak vaccine as well? :(

    24. Re:I am thinkink.... by rdoger6424 · · Score: 1
      There was an article about this in Scientific American. Apparently NASA used pencils until they realized the danger (pencil fragments in microgravity is not something desirable). The space pen was also developed
      • privately
      . NASA (and the russians too) bought it when it came out.
      --
      "Hello 911? I just tried to toast some bread, and the toaster grew an arm and stabbed me in the face!"
    25. Re:I am thinkink.... by Hucko · · Score: 1

      The real issue is, that the story is believable.

      --
      Semi-automatic amateur armchair Australian philosopher; conjecture ready at any moment...
    26. Re:I am thinkink.... by rdoger6424 · · Score: 1

      haaaaliburton!
      haaaaliburton!

      --
      "Hello 911? I just tried to toast some bread, and the toaster grew an arm and stabbed me in the face!"
  2. Damn this thing is heavy.... by realsilly · · Score: 0

    and sharp too.

    --
    Life takes interesting turns, but the most interest is when you're off the beaten path.
    1. Re:Damn this thing is heavy.... by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 1

      and sharp too.

      Not to be picky, but its probably fairly smooth, due to the melting going through the atmosphere. Admittedly I haven't seen a picture of the thing, since the site is not responding.

      --
      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
    2. Re:Damn this thing is heavy.... by phoenixwade · · Score: 1

      and sharp too. Not to be picky, but its probably fairly smooth, due to the melting going through the atmosphere. Admittedly I haven't seen a picture of the thing, since the site is not responding. Not to be picky back, but if you were to take a smooth thing and slam it on the ground realy hard, there is a reasonable change of getting sharp bits...

      --
      A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
    3. Re:Damn this thing is heavy.... by realsilly · · Score: 1

      I've already had it cut down so it will fit on some nice jewerly....

      It make me radiate with bling....

      --
      Life takes interesting turns, but the most interest is when you're off the beaten path.
    4. Re:Damn this thing is heavy.... by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 1

      Not to be picky back, but if you were to take a smooth thing and slam it on the ground realy hard, there is a reasonable change of getting sharp bits...

      If you look at the Google image cache you will see that a fair few are rounded, thought admittedly there some that are slightly jagged:

      http://images.google.ca/images?q=meteorite&ie=UTF- 8&oe=UTF-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=f irefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

      --
      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
    5. Re:Damn this thing is heavy.... by VagaStorm · · Score: 1

      If I remember the incident correctly, this one did not slam into the ground, it exploded in mid air..... Still, odds are its pretty edgy tho :p

    6. Re:Damn this thing is heavy.... by Nullav · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't rain have eroded it quite a bit by now?

      --
      I just read Slashdot for the articles.
    7. Re:Damn this thing is heavy.... by Kagura · · Score: 1

      So it's still in mid-air?

    8. Re:Damn this thing is heavy.... by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "If I remember the incident correctly, this one did not slam into the ground, it exploded in mid air"

      Well, unless you really think the stolen 3000 Kg rock managed to stay floating in mid air since 1908 it somehow *had* to hit the ground, hadn't it?

    9. Re:Damn this thing is heavy.... by tezbobobo · · Score: 1

      actually it was shot down by aliens. am i joking?

  3. In other news... by i_liek_turtles · · Score: 0

    A local teenager, who spent most of his time in the basement reading Slashdot, was kidnapped.

    1. Re:In other news... by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 3, Funny

      A local teenager, who spent most of his time in the basement reading Slashdot, was kidnapped.

      His mother has issued a desperate offer of $20,000 and a complete collection of Star Trek memorabilia to the kidnappers to keep him. "I just want my basement back", said the distraught woman.

      --
      Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
  4. How? by lanceleader · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How could someone steal a 3 tonne meteorite? I don't really see how the theft happened unnoticed.

    1. Re:How? by LindaMack · · Score: 1

      You obviously haven't heard of my previous work

      --
      Why, let's just say I do the dirty work for the other side, no matter what side you're on

    2. Re:How? by ArcadeX · · Score: 1

      How is easy, could either use a crane on a heavy duty utility truck, or even a wench to get it up on a trailer if it's already on a sled, or has a relatively flat bottom. A bulldozer can way more than that, and they manage to move them with broken tracks. As far as the unnoticed part goes, I can't make any comments on the security of the place, but it wouldn't be a stretch to see something like that just put in a yard somewhere without a 24hr gaurd or camera system...

      --
      An I.T. motto in the hands of an idiot is a dangerous thing...
    3. Re:How? by nebulus4 · · Score: 0

      Simple. Nobody in their right mind would suspect that someone could and would steal a three tonne meteorite. Therefore, even if they were noticed nobody would report it.

      --
      "It would be wrong to refuse to face the fact that everything is fundamentally sick and sad."
    4. Re:How? by Notquitecajun · · Score: 5, Funny

      or even a wench to get it up on a trailer

      Oh, good grief, I'll just let the mispelling be the joke in and of itself...

    5. Re:How? by shotgunefx · · Score: 5, Funny

      I dunno, I remember a Cajun restaurant around the corner had a really cool giant wood alligator sculpture crawling out of the side of the building.

      About 15 ft up, It was about 7 to 8ft long and weighed probably near 1000 pounds with the mount. Steel cables attaching it to the building amongst other things.

      One Sunday, a few guys showed up with a cherry picker and somehow detached, lowered it and carted it off. More than a few people saw it, but people just assumed they must be ok to cart it off, because who would steal a giant wooden alligator in the middle of the day?

      --

      -William Shatner can be neither created nor destroyed.
    6. Re:How? by Falstius · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If someone can steal a swimming pool full of water out of a backyard, one big rock out of a mostly ignored storage yard should be pretty easy.

    7. Re:How? by Himring · · Score: 1

      "I would not want to be a manufactured home repo man. Those would be hard to sneak away. Knock knock knock - 'Hi, could you go cut your grass... then look that way for half an hour?'" - Mitch Hedberg

      RIP Mitch

      --
      "All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
    8. Re:How? by ArcadeX · · Score: 1

      hm. I guess that having a 10 ton wench on your truck would be a pretty scarry thing...

      --
      An I.T. motto in the hands of an idiot is a dangerous thing...
    9. Re:How? by alexj33 · · Score: 0

      On a similar vein, how can a prisoner mail himself out of prison? (This actually happened in April of 2006)

    10. Re:How? by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      in soviet Russia, abnormal sex chromosomed super-female wench makes meteorite vanish.

    11. Re:How? by sjwest · · Score: 1

      Vodka my friend.

      I lost a toothbrush at the weekend and i didnt notice it.

    12. Re:HOW? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      So, in other words, a few kilograms wouldn't have been enough meteor. They needed something... meatier.

    13. Re:How? by spiffyman · · Score: 1

      Ha! That's good. Of course, not long ago, MIT students managed to boost a 3-ton cannon from CalTech using similar methods.

      --
      So you can laugh all you want to...
    14. Re:How? by wumpus188 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Dude... this is Russia we're talking about. The meteorite probably just stole the thieves.

    15. Re:How? by BattleApple · · Score: 1
      In this article from 8/11 it sounds like they may have already loaded up a truck with the thing, then either the driver took off with it, or they put it in storage somewhere and somebody forgot where... or it was taken to the wrong location etc..

      "It disappeared back in June, when the foundation was moving out of its old building," a police spokesman told the agency.
      "Our colleagues are establishing what got lost, where the rock is and why they only came to us about it now."

      http://www.mysteriousworld.com/Content/Images/Jour nal/2003/Summer/Giants/RaidersSmithsonianWarehouse .jpg
    16. Re:How? by GerryHattrick · · Score: 1

      If it had been a proper 3-*ton* weight, and not denominated in fashionable 'funny tonnes', it could never have floated away.

      Now that the Russkis are getting their self-esteem back, they should have labelled it 20 Berkovets then no one could have lifted it at all.

    17. Re:How? by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's possible. Heck, in 1968, a master thief and his girlfriend/accomplice stole a 10-ton gold ingot from a moving train! They blew up a bridge going over water when the train approached. The train crashed into the bay, along with the steel container of gold. Using a submarine, they went down and attached balloons to the container to give it lift, and hauled away the gold using the sub. Luckily, the police inspector in charge of moving the gold had the container radioactivated, so they could trace it with a geigercounter. The police swarmed the thief's hideout while he was in the process of melting the ingot with a giant laser.

    18. Re:How? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *crickets*

    19. Re:How? by doombringerltx · · Score: 1

      I think I saw a documentary about that. It ended with them pulling the mask off the master thief and him saying "And I would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for you pesky kids and your radioactivity!"

    20. Re:How? by drsquare · · Score: 1

      The same way people rob cash machines: with a digger.

    21. Re:How? by Mister+Liberty · · Score: 1

      What do you mean unnoticed. We're discussing it aren't we?

    22. Re:How? by pablodiazgutierrez · · Score: 2, Funny

      In my university they installed this huge frozen CO2 tank the size of two large trailer trucks. The next day it was gone. The funny thing is that people have seen it in an industrial area, but there's no formal proof that it's the same, so it's there to stay.

    23. Re:HOW? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ouch

    24. Re:How? by Ortega-Starfire · · Score: 1

      Serial numbers? Don't tell me you don't record them?

      --
      ---- Liquid was a patriot ----
    25. Re:How? by stwrtpj · · Score: 1

      or even a wench to get it up
      I'm sure if the wench was particularly attractive, someone will manage to get it up.
      --
      Karma: Frotzed (mostly due to the Frobozz Magic Karma Company)
    26. Re:How? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Okay, Carme..*cough* Linda... Eep.

    27. Re:How? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess that having a 10 ton wench on your truck would be a pretty scarry thing

      Does this mean that the wench was beaten or cut a lot?

    28. Re:How? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nail the front door shut and tow it away with 'em in it.

    29. Re:How? by ectotherm · · Score: 1

      This almost sounds like an MIT hack, like when they stole Caltech's cannon many years ago... http://hacks.mit.edu/

      --
      "Nature bats last..."
    30. Re:How? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ooooooh, Pratchett.

    31. Re:How? by Lemmy+Caution · · Score: 1

      Pretty normal in Mississippi and Texas, I'm afraid.

    32. Re:How? by pablodiazgutierrez · · Score: 1

      I don't know the details, but I would assume that this is the kind of thing made on demand, and probably with not such great accounting. I mean, it's got to be the same guys who installed it that took it later. They probably covered their steps.

    33. Re:How? by Nullav · · Score: 1

      Well it's not like anyone would report seeing a rock in a large truck driving down the street. I doubt the place was guarding something that huge, either. Would you expect a house to be stolen?

      --
      I just read Slashdot for the articles.
    34. Re:How? by Deadstick · · Score: 1

      Who'd be suspicious of a flatbed truck with a big rock on it?

      rj

    35. Re:How? by o2sd · · Score: 1

      In my university they installed this huge frozen CO2 tank the size of two large trailer trucks. The next day it was gone.

      Maybe it melted.

      --
      - Nothing to see hear.
    36. Re:How? by o2sd · · Score: 1

      Pretty normal in Mississippi and Texas, I'm afraid.

      Would that be wenches, or spelling mistakes?

      --
      - Nothing to see hear.
    37. Re:How? by Lemmy+Caution · · Score: 1

      Buy one, get one free!

    38. Re:How? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Ha! That's good. Of course, not long ago, MIT students managed to boost a 3-ton cannon from CalTech using similar methods."

      It's even funnier when such a stupidity doesn't work. I remember some time ago some guys tried to steal a military helicopter grounded on a grass terrain. They went with a truck and an elevator, they put the helicopter on the platform... and then the wheels got stuck on the grass so they had to rush away both without the helicopter *and* the truck.

    39. Re:How? by bl8n8r · · Score: 1

      vodka.

      --
      boycott slashdot February 10th - 17th check out: altSlashdot.org
    40. Re:How? by RexRhino · · Score: 1

      Silly, misguided fool! There really *WAS* a documentary about said super criminal:
      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062861/

    41. Re:How? by afaik_ianal · · Score: 1

      Umm.. Where... no... I'm not going to ask...

    42. Re:How? by Fred_A · · Score: 1

      Who'd be suspicious of a flatbed truck with a big rock on it? Especially since at 3 tons it wouldn't be a very big rock. Rocks are quite dense. Meteorites can have a significant metal content making them even denser.

      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
    43. Re:How? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... yawn

    44. Re:How? by blackicye · · Score: 1

      lmao, you owe me a new keyboard.

    45. Re:How? by TheSciBoy · · Score: 1

      This probably only took some money. Most likely a whole bunch of guards and pencil pushers collaborated. They probably used all the equipment that is already on site, sold the meteorite (either in parts or as a whole) to some outsider and split the cash between them. Sad that the meteorite disappeared, but it's still not as disturbing as a whole magazine of explosives disappearing in Iraq.

      --
      Badgers, we don't need no stinking badgers! - UHF
    46. Re:How? by pablodiazgutierrez · · Score: 1

      Hehe, good point. Liquid CO2...

    47. Re:How? by Muhammar · · Score: 1

      The thieves will be probed and returned. To beta Centauri

      --
      I doubt that we will ever figure out - and I suspect that even if we did figure out we couldn't do much about it
    48. Re:How? by clem · · Score: 1

      Wow. So the Denver International Airport luggage system is coordinating the alien abductions?

      --
      Your courageous and selfless spelling corrections have made me a better person.
  5. Wreckage by necro81 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If they were able to bring a 3-ton meteorite out of the tundra to the foundation headquarters, why couldn't they have managed to bring back even a scrap of the supposed alien wreckage?

    1. Re:Wreckage by skoaldipper · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Maybe the alien ship wreckage was the meteorite?

      --
      I hope, when they die, cartoon characters have to answer for their sins.
    2. Re:Wreckage by Surt · · Score: 1

      The wierd physics of the alien spacecraft made anyone who got too close melt ala ROTLA.

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    3. Re:Wreckage by fr4nk · · Score: 3, Funny

      And maybe it wasn't stolen but managed to flew away after the crew repaired it for nearly a century!

    4. Re:Wreckage by skiflyer · · Score: 1

      What's that have to do with the price of tea in China?

      I believe the concept is same as Roswell and all the other UFO conspiracy nuts... the gov't didn't want it to be public, not couldn't manage to make it so.

    5. Re:Wreckage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was probably stolen first; after all it was more valuable.

    6. Re:Wreckage by cloudwilliam · · Score: 1

      And maybe its crew called it Yonada. And it was hollow. And one of them touched the sky.

    7. Re:Wreckage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's that have to do with the price of tea in China?
      The price of tea in China has a relationship with the cost of teabagging.

    8. Re:Wreckage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The smallest scrap weighed 4 tons, obviously.

    9. Re:Wreckage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Boy that would suck to have it flew away on you just after you fix it. Sort of like slamming the hood on your car after a repair and it takes off on you. I hate the irony of tense.

    10. Re:Wreckage by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      why couldn't they have managed to bring back even a scrap of the supposed alien wreckage?

      When it was first discovered, the Illuminati swept in on Black Helicopters and hurried it away to a Freemason stronghold under the Vatican.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    11. Re:Wreckage by bcmm · · Score: 1

      It's worth noting that the meteorite is presumably a fake or not actually from there anyway. Most scientist do not believe that any sizable piece of the meteorite from Tunguska was ever recovered and conclude that it exploded due to the heat and air pressure on it during reentry. The pattern of tree damage also suggests and airburst.

      --
      # cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
      Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
    12. Re:Wreckage by jongleur · · Score: 1

      Damn... you beat me to it. The Tunguska Event didn't leave much behind except for wreckage, certainly there have been no reports of meteor fragments found. This meteorite was almost certainly brought in from elsewhere, mostly to show visitors what one looks like.

      A 3 tonne nickel-iron meteorite wouldn't need to be very large, maybe the size of small refrigerator. A 5-ton truck outfitted with a lift would all that would be needed to take it away.

    13. Re:Wreckage by bcmm · · Score: 1

      This meteorite was almost certainly brought in from elsewhere, mostly to show visitors what one looks like
      Or maybe they tell people it's from Tunguska.. they sound sorta questionable.

      And I agree the theft is not too hard. It reminds of me a case which happened here in the UK a few years ago, when thieves loaded a massive bronze sculpture onto a truck and drove off with it.
      --
      # cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
      Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
    14. Re:Wreckage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      everyone knows there was no meteorite, or wreckage. it was really tesla's death ray.

  6. Nothing for you to see here. Please move along. by VisceralLogic · · Score: 1

    Gosh... they stole slashdot, too?

    --
    Stop! Dremel time!
  7. Please, end the meme by PIPBoy3000 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No more "in Soviet Russia" jokes. They're not funny.

    Well, except maybe "I, for one, welcome our new asteroid stealing overlords from Soviet Russia."

    1. Re:Please, end the meme by Liquidrage · · Score: 1, Redundant

      In Soviet Russia memes end YOU.


      No really!

    2. Re:Please, end the meme by Wavicle · · Score: 5, Funny

      In Soviet Russia, Asteroid-stealing Overlords welcome you!

      --
      Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.
      Edward Everett (1794 - 1865)
    3. Re:Please, end the meme by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Moderation -2
          50% Redundant
          50% Overrated

      Mod score -2
          One Captain Obvious
          One Cowardly Metamod Dodger

    4. Re:Please, end the meme by dkleinsc · · Score: 1

      So close to copyright infringment (see sig).

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    5. Re:Please, end the meme by TheDauthi · · Score: 1

      But in soviet Russia, asteroid stealing overlords welcome you!

    6. Re:Please, end the meme by scolbe · · Score: 1

      No more "in Soviet Russia" jokes. They're not funny. oh sure... they're not funny when someone else makes them... but they're supposed to be funny when you make one?
      --
      Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself 8+)
    7. Re:Please, end the meme by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Soviet Russia, jokes end you!

    8. Re:Please, end the meme by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      In post-Soviet Russia, you steal meteor and nobody cares.

      See? It's not funny that way.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  8. what by JamesRose · · Score: 4, Funny

    the aliens have turned up to take it back claiming we store it?!!?! Liers!

    1. Re:what by Tuoqui · · Score: 1

      Maybe it's Alien DRM? Like the wreckage pieces decided they spent enough time on earth and went flying to outer space?

      --
      09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
      +2 Troll is Slashdot's way of saying groupthink is confused
  9. If only they were by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    in soviet russia, the 3-ton meteorite would've stolen the thieves.

  10. Unsolved? by moehoward · · Score: 4, Funny


    My current understanding of the Tunguska event was that there were still at least three really good potential theories and that they were still researching. Asteroid, meteorite, etc.

    Anyway, glad to see the Aliens got their rock back. No tin-foil-hat-wearing clown should own Alien property. If my car parks on an ant hill, the ants suddenly don't own my car. And this guy had no right to "own" that rock. This guy has got to get a clue regarding species relations.

    --
    "If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
    1. Re:Unsolved? by ruiner13 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yeah, I have to call BS on their claim it was part of the big explosion, since it is currently commonly thought that it was an air-burst event which would not leave a 3-ton object behind. If this rock was really from the event, I'm pretty sure the mystery would be solved, which it isn't.

      --

      today is spelling optional day.

    2. Re:Unsolved? by sveard · · Score: 1

      Asteroid, meteorite, etc.

      A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives an impact with the Earth's surface without being destroyed. While in space it is called a meteoroid.

      from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorite , and:

      A meteoroid is a small sand to boulder-sized particle of debris in the Solar system. Larger than that, the object is an asteroid; smaller than that, it is interplanetary dust. The current official definition of a meteoroid from the International Astronomical Union is "A solid object moving in interplanetary space, of a size considerably smaller than an asteroid and considerably larger than an atom or molecule."

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid Don't think a meteorite/meteoroid can cause an explosion a 1000 times more powerful than Hiroshima.. Can it?
    3. Re:Unsolved? by MobyDisk · · Score: 3, Informative

      Depends how fast it is moving. There's been research into using ballistics instead of nuclear because you can do more damage while leaving no fallout. You just have to accelerate something really really fast.

    4. Re:Unsolved? by jafiwam · · Score: 3, Informative

      Well, there IS a group that has picked out a "potential crater" that went previously unrecognized that has done some expeditions and drilling in the lake to see if they can establish this for sure.
      Apparently their idea is a large stony or iron object was the cause of the blast, but part of it made a big divot in the landscape downrange. Because of the nature of the ground, it didn't look like a crater, more like someone sticking a broom handle in the mud. (Cracks and a hole, not ejecta, rim and round hole.) I think the link came from Slashdot or Fark.

      But, based on surveys of the rest of the area looking for stony or iron debris have not found much.

      So I call "Typical Russian BS" on this as well.

      It would be a HUGE discovery to have pegged the event with some physical remains, that's a popular subject amongst science-geeks, conspiracy theorists and Slashdot.

      For something to have been sitting in a museum (not studied?!) for three years and not noticed makes this look like insurance fraud more than anything else.

    5. Re:Unsolved? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Typical Russian BS"

      As opposed to non Russian BS?

    6. Re:Unsolved? by dbrecht · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hiroshima's "Little Boy" gravity bomb: 12-15 kt -- gun type uranium-235 fission bomb. EC17/Mk-17, the EC24/Mk-24, and the B41 (Mk-41) (most powerful US weapons ever: 25 Mt Wikipedia Link
      Little Boy is around 20,000 smaller than the largest nukes the US has ever made.

      Kinetic energy equation is 1/2*m*v^2
      1 Kiloton of dynamite is 4.184x10^12 joules of energy

      A little bit of algerbra determines that a 3 ton object going over 56,000 meters per second would have more power than the "Little Boy" bomb. To make it 10,000 times larger just increase velocity by 100 fold (since velocity is squared). That means it would have to be going 5,600,00 meters/second, or approximately 1/50th the speed of light. I don't know if objects fly through space at that speed though... I just know how to work the math.

    7. Re:Unsolved? by marcosdumay · · Score: 1

      "For something to have been sitting in a museum (not studied?!) for three years and not noticed makes this look like insurance fraud more than anything else."

      Hey, stealing a non-existent 3ton meteorite is even easier than stealing a real one. One can do that and not leve a single track.

    8. Re:Unsolved? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I got a clue about species relations. Giggity. Especially if she's got more than two boobs. Heh! Heh! Aaaalll riiiiight.

    9. Re:Unsolved? by Homr+Zodyssey · · Score: 1

      While I realize that Wikipedia is not yet the perfect repository of all human knowledge, I did find it strange that the Wikipedia article about Tunguska never mentions any 3-ton rocks. As a matter of fact, it indicates that the only physical traces of the *whatever* are microscopic glass spheres.

    10. Re:Unsolved? by Loke+the+Dog · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I actually did park my car on an anthill once, accidentally of course. The ants behaved just like humans and acted like they owned it: It took quite a while to get them all out, and they weren't happy about it. So I'd say this is a mistake any species can make.

    11. Re:Unsolved? by shadowbearer · · Score: 1

      Well, according to Wiki the best guesses for the size of the Tunguska asteroid (if it was one) range from 60m to 1200m in diameter. I remember from some other reading that a 400m diameter, average composition asteroid has a mass of roughly 50 million tons. So a three ton piece of debris doesn't seem all that unreasonable, even if we consider a an order of magnitude smaller diameter.

        I'm sure we could find out if the object was really from the Tunguska event, however. I remember the first expeditions describing how many trees had small pellet fragments in them - we just need to compare the 3 ton object's composition to them. If anyone ever gets it back ;)

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
  11. Yes, I have a response by Knara · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Uh, what?"

  12. 322 by dattaway · · Score: 0

    Its now in a secret room in the Skull and Bones temple.

  13. uh-oh by John+Boone · · Score: 0

    There goes the Kryptonite...

    1. Re:uh-oh by John+Boone · · Score: 1

      Rrright, I get a score of 1, noone has modded me up, and someone slaps "overrated -1". Hallo?! Read what "overrated" means?!

  14. Sought for questioning by Alzheimers · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sought for questioning: Bald White Man, Tall, with typical evil genius features. Last heard uttering the phrase "I know how to stop Superman!"

    1. Re:Sought for questioning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Karl Rove? ;)

    2. Re:Sought for questioning by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      That would explain why he left the white house press conference today on a snowmobile.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    3. Re:Sought for questioning by ichigo+2.0 · · Score: 1

      Are you sure he didn't say "I know how to stop Google!"?

    4. Re:Sought for questioning by Mister+Liberty · · Score: 1

      I thought you meant me, but I'm not bald, and I would never utter stated phrase, for I am Superman.

  15. Blame Yury by Howitzer86 · · Score: 1

    I'm betting that the Director stole it. To claim that he found an alien space craft, he must either be lying or insane.

    1. Re:Blame Yury by BobMcD · · Score: 1


      Either those, or he found an alien spacecraft. One of the three...

    2. Re:Blame Yury by treak007 · · Score: 1

      ..and he would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for you pesky kids and your talking dog.

      --
      Klingon Software is not released, it escapes, inflicting terrible damage onto the enemy as it does
    3. Re:Blame Yury by phoenixwade · · Score: 1

      Either those, or he found an alien spacecraft. One of the three... There is no reason to limit it to one of the three, all three or any combination of two is possible....... They're not mutually exclusive.

      --
      A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
  16. Cry Wolf? by phoenixwade · · Score: 1
    How do you have a 6000 pound rock stolen?

    It's not like you can stick it in your pocket and walk away, even if you are that Russian boxer dude that killed Apollo Creed......

    The foundation's director Yury Lavbin claimed to have discovered the wreckage of an alien spacecraft during the expedition. And the article goes on to say that it just disappeared. (I'm not clear if it was the spaceship or the rock..... or maybe the rock was the spaceship....) Damn, and we were so close to proving the Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith are real.......
    --
    A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
    1. Re:Cry Wolf? by Saikik · · Score: 1

      The only logical assumption, Captain Wolf, is that the ship activated it's cloaking device.

    2. Re:Cry Wolf? by TheMadcapZ · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually depending on it's density it could be smaller than you think. If it is a rock, say with the density of concrete it would only be 1.48 cubic yards in size.
      That mean 4.5 ft length on each axis roughly (since it is irregular and all). It is nothing a hoist and a few straps couldn't lift into a suitable truck.

      If the density was higher as they say the composition maybe iron, those dimension will be even smaller.

    3. Re:Cry Wolf? by adamofgreyskull · · Score: 1

      Err...wasn't Apollo Creed the spaceship that took Neil Armstrong to the moon.

    4. Re:Cry Wolf? by phoenixwade · · Score: 1

      Actually depending on it's density it could be smaller than you think. If it is a rock, say with the density of concrete it would only be 1.48 cubic yards in size.
      That mean 4.5 ft length on each axis roughly (since it is irregular and all). It is nothing a hoist and a few straps couldn't lift into a suitable truck.

      If the density was higher as they say the composition maybe iron, those dimension will be even smaller. True, and if it were made up of a significant amount of, say, Neutronium I believe it would easily fit in your pocket..... Better where levi's though, those designer jean pockets are kind of weak.....

      Problem, and mystery, solved! Old Man Withers is going to be whining about us meddling kids, though.
      --
      A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
  17. Tunguska Event by karlmiller · · Score: 3, Informative

    Wikipedia: Tunguska Event

    1. Re:Tunguska Event by drpimp · · Score: 1

      In Soviet Russia, asteroid steals your memory that an asteroid ever existed! Because I have never heard of such an asteroid existing! This article is non-sense!

      --
      -- Brought to you by Carl's JR
  18. Obvious by SydShamino · · Score: 2, Funny

    The US military used their stealth helicopter technology (enhanced with alien technology) to airlift the meteor out in the middle of the night. Otherwise, someone would have eventually discovered the alien artifacts embedded deep within the meteor.

    I can't believe such an obvious answer hasn't been expressed yet.

    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    (This is funny, I promise.)

    --
    It doesn't hurt to be nice.
  19. New terrorist plot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Come on I can't believe nobody thought about this! Bring the 3 ton meteorite back INTO space, then launch it back at NYC for plus terrorist delights!

  20. WANTED FOR QUESTIONING: LEX LUTHER by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because, if any human being was gonna perpetrate such a fantastic hoax, it would have been me!

  21. BadAstronomy has covered it already... by Cyberax · · Score: 5, Informative

    In short, this news is bullshit. Not a single meteorite remain from Tunguska event has been found.

    http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2007/08/12/thie ves-steal-giant-rock/

    1. Re:BadAstronomy has covered it already... by Stavr0 · · Score: 1
      Not a single meteorite remain from Tunguska event has been found.

      That's right. It was just a weather balloon. Move along, nothing to see here tovarich.

    2. Re:BadAstronomy has covered it already... by Al+Al+Cool+J · · Score: 4, Informative

      Covered? The "coverage" consists of:

      • the claim that no meteorite remain from Tunguska has ever been found (proof by bold assertion)
      • a comment that the writer couldn't find the foundation's website. Gee, I wonder if the writer was searching for websites in Russian?
      • mockery and sarcasm as soon as the subject of aliens arises. After all, scientists know that aliens can't be visisting the earth, because the Fermi Paradox says so.

      I don't think that's particularly good coverage

      Anyway, here is a 2004 story from what looks to be a reputable science website on the discovery of the meteorite, with photo

    3. Re:BadAstronomy has covered it already... by srmalloy · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually, there is some conjecture that the meteorite may have been found, but not obtained. See this BBC science article; the premise is that Lake Cheko near the center of the region displays an unusual bottom formation with an anomalous feature about 10m down that might be a meteorite fragment. A fair degree of controversy exists, and an expedition is planned in 2008 to drill down to the anomaly to determine whether it is meteoritic in nature, which would settle the question.

    4. Re:BadAstronomy has covered it already... by Cyberax · · Score: 5, Informative

      1. That's a well known-fact. Several expeditions conducted by USSR have not found any remains except for small spheres of molten glass and rock (consistent with aerial explosion).

      2. Ok, Russian is my native language, so I searched for this 'foundation'. Here is the original news: http://www.radiomayak.ru/tvp.html?id=87757&cid=

      This foundation is called 'Fond Tungusskogo Kosmicheskogo Fenomena' in Russian. So I've searched information about it in the most popular Russian search engine (it understands Russian morphology and works much better than Google): http://www.yandex.ru/yandsearch?text=%D2%F3%ED%E3% F3%F1%F1%EA%E8%E9+%EA%EE%F1%EC%E8%F7%E5%F1%EA%E8%E 9+%F4%E5%ED%EE%EC%E5%ED+%F4%EE%ED%E4

      This is the report about the initial "discovery" of this stone: http://www.membrana.ru/articles/misinterpretation/ 2004/08/10/223900.html

      One of the first entries: http://www.newslab.ru/news/174070/print - basically, this "foundation" was being kicked out of a museum.

      After that, there was exactly ZERO publications in reliable magazines about this discovery. For me, this smells of pseudoscience.

    5. Re:BadAstronomy has covered it already... by Al+Al+Cool+J · · Score: 2, Insightful

      See, already we've got more coverage than this badastronomy site. Good stuff.

      And as for this well known "fact", it's a fact provided you discount this 2004 supposed meteorite find. So using this "fact" to in turn discredit the find is circular.

    6. Re:BadAstronomy has covered it already... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The photo isn't there, but there is there is a link to a supposed photo.

      I'm rather unimpressed by the photo (158 pixels wide is rather small to recognize anything except a bunch of guys standing around a half-buried object in the forest somewhere).

      If this is "evidence", it's pretty weak. And what the heck have they been doing with it for the last 3 years? It isn't that hard to figure out whether something is or is not a meteorite, or is or is not a piece of, say, a discarded Russian rocket stage (Tunguska is downrange of the Baikonur Cosmodrome). If it were a real meteorite, it would be the first one found in the vicinity of the Tunguska event, so it would be significant scientific news. Where are the details of the find?

      This has less to do with preconceived notions than the virtual absence of any documentary evidence that the thing actually is a meteorite.

    7. Re:BadAstronomy has covered it already... by Enigma2175 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Covered? The "coverage" consists of:



      • the claim that no meteorite remain from Tunguska has ever been found (proof by bold assertion)
      • a comment that the writer couldn't find the foundation's website. Gee, I wonder if the writer was searching for websites in Russian?
      • mockery and sarcasm as soon as the subject of aliens arises. After all, scientists know that aliens can't be visisting the earth, because the Fermi Paradox says so.

      I don't think that's particularly good coverage


      Anyway, here is a 2004 story from what looks to be a reputable science website on the discovery of the meteorite, with photo

      Hmm, the PhysOrg story is just a press release by the foundation, there is an official statement in the comments below the story stating "this new theory was announced at the press conference on results of the recent expedition to the crash site. It is not our own conclusion, but theory made by scientists who claim they found some proving evidences. As scientists, we truly believe that even some irrational theories have the right to be announced."

      If the Bad Astronomer is not good enough for you, how about articles from Space.com and MSNBC which were written in August 2004, when the foundation claimed to have found the alien spacecraft parts. Neither article gives much credence to the claim that the team's claimed dicovery. The foundation said at the time that they would be providing evidence (the recovered "spacecraft parts") but 3 years later they have yet to do so. The Bad Astronomer did not write a lengthy article because any rational being already knows that this foundation is full of shit. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, and they have provided none.
      --

      Enigma

    8. Re:BadAstronomy has covered it already... by naoursla · · Score: 1

      Not according to the insurance policy I have locked up in my safe deposit box.

    9. Re:BadAstronomy has covered it already... by DanielG42 · · Score: 1

      Of course not, the last one was just stolen.

      --
      Daniel
  22. Useless by The-Bus · · Score: 4, Funny

    Someone tell the thieves that no matter how many walls they cross with it in England, the rock won't turn into Claire Danes, er, Yvaine.

    --

    Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

  23. Yeah right. by dtml-try+MyNick · · Score: 3, Insightful

    To my best knowledge it was never cleared up what exactly caused the accident in the first place..

    And now, almost a 100 years later, we suddenly get to hear that they lost a 3 ton meteor (how the hell do you lose a 3 ton rock?) and oh yeah, btw, that was the meteor that caused the incident!....
    No worries, we had it lying in our backyard all the time, never felt a urge or saw the reason to let the rest of the world know....

    Yeah, right.

    --
    Life starts at the end of your comfort zone.
    1. Re:Yeah right. by PPH · · Score: 1

      (how the hell do you lose a 3 ton rock?)

      We lost Iraq, not 'a rock'.

      It turns out it was just a bad cellular connection.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    2. Re:Yeah right. by dtml-try+MyNick · · Score: 1

      "We lost Iraq, not 'a rock'." Please, leave the "we" out of there.

      --
      Life starts at the end of your comfort zone.
  24. Well, have you seen scrap metal prices? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought no meteoritic material was recovered from the Tunguska event?

    Whatever the stolen item was, I doubt it was worth much, scientifically-speaking, and it was probably stolen for the metal, which would be worth something. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a piece of debris from a Russian rocket launch (the Tunguska area is downrange).

  25. Stranger than fiction? by Stavr0 · · Score: 1

    Wow this reads like the opening lines of a cheesy horror flick. Next thing you know, Russia will be overtaken by Siberian Space Zombies.

  26. For example by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  27. It's the ooze, stupid by krou · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wait a second, it's all so much clearer now.

    Obviously, Yury didn't bring the alien ship back because he himself is possessed, and the alien-Yury decided it would be much smarter to bring the meteorite back and tell a few oligarchs that it was filled with oil! Yes! So they go and steal it for their own ends, but they'll all get possessed, and the black ooze will be walking in the corridors of Russian power. And all this when there is talk of a new Cold War developing with the West.

    Coincidence? I think not.

    --
    'If Christ had tweeted the sermon on the mount, it might have lasted until nightfall.' - John Perry Barlow
  28. The joke's on us by Blobule · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think someone is Putin us on!!

    1. Re:The joke's on us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      That's nothing but a big load of Bolshevik.

  29. maybe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They should check their neighbor and his new gravel driveway.

  30. The problem is by Bryan+Bytehead · · Score: 3, Interesting

    the whole thing is fake.

    They haven't recovered anything from that blast, let alone a 3 ton meteorite.

    --
    Bryan
    1. Re:The problem is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not quite. It is possible that there was in fact a 3 ton hunk of rock from SOMEWHERE that was actually stolen. That's the question. Is it a complete hoax from a to z, or was there at least real shenanigans going on with an existent rock? My sniff-ometer says could be an attempt to invent a rock that never existed by claiming it was stolen. Was this rock on display to visitors to the museum? Has anyone seen it?

  31. Think about it by c00rdb · · Score: 1

    If someone stole it, wouldn't it be pretty easy to follow the trail it must've left? I'm calling BS on this.

  32. how? by thatskinnyguy · · Score: 1

    How is it even possible to have a 3 ton chunk of rock left over after it exploded 800+ feet in the air? It would have either sluffed-off in plasma form when coming through the atmosphere or been turned to dust in the explosion. 3 ton Tunguska meteorite? I don't think so. Hoax.

    --
    The game.
  33. Incompetent alien drivers! by Peter+Trepan · · Score: 1

    You'd think a vastly advanced alien civilization would produce better spaceship pilots - but it seems like everyone who has ever visited has crashed in some area too secluded for witnesses.

    Perhaps their disproportionately bulbous guitar pick-shaped heads crumple atop their spindly bodies when they enter Earth's gravity well.

    --

    Step into a huge movement. Don't Tread In Me.

    1. Re:Incompetent alien drivers! by WormholeFiend · · Score: 1

      I bet they were high on space cocaine.

    2. Re:Incompetent alien drivers! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope, it was Arcturian Megaweed

  34. Steve Gutenberg and Wilford Brimley stole it, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and soon they're going to give it to Brian Dennehy no doubt.

  35. Darn it... by guruevi · · Score: 1

    Now that it's all over /. I can't sell it on E-Bay anymore!

    Anyway, I heard of this shady bidding site http://localhost.localdomain/ ...3T meteorite, bids starting at $100...

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    1. Re:Darn it... by Overzeetop · · Score: 1

      Man, can you imagine what it will cost to ship _that_?

      (Actually, it'll probably be one of those damned "local pickup only" auctions)

      --
      Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  36. Did they find... by rodrigoandrade · · Score: 0

    MEGATRON???????

  37. In other News by supersky · · Score: 1

    ....Russian Scientists have newly discovered a 3-ton metorite that seems to suddenly landed in their yard B of the Tunguska.

  38. Quick! by PPH · · Score: 1
    Get Mulder and Scully out of retirement!

    And don't step in any of that oily stuff.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  39. Why you chain up your $500Million lawn ornament by veranikon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Despite prevailing suspicions that a group of mutant little girls whizzed off with the rock to build their Help-the-Town-and-Make-It-a-Better-Place machine, don't forget that meteorite rock is pretty scarce, and can fetch a pretty penny/ounce.

    Martian Meteorites have sold for $85k/ounce, and this source claims $3600/troy ounce for more garden variety space rocks. This is more valuable than gold, platinum, maybe comparable to Rhodium.

    So, (3tonnes = 128,602.986troy ounces)*$3600/ounce = $467 Million, just sitting around in your backyard. No chain, or Kryptonite lock, or even post-it note saying "please don't steal." Just asking for trouble from the neighbor kids, they were.

    1. Re:Why you chain up your $500Million lawn ornament by MeBot · · Score: 1

      Ebay has meteorites on sale for around $4 an ounce. That's still $384,000 for 3 tons, but a bit less than a half billion.

    2. Re:Why you chain up your $500Million lawn ornament by bobsledbob · · Score: 1

      "Just asking for trouble from the neighbor kids, they were."

      Ok, Yoda. :)

      --
      Beware of geeks bearing formulas.
    3. Re:Why you chain up your $500Million lawn ornament by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If this material was quite valuable, it gets me wondering about the security of other valuable material - like Plutonium. I know it's not really related but your comment comparing the prices of other elements was enough to remind me of this concern.

    4. Re:Why you chain up your $500Million lawn ornament by naoursla · · Score: 1

      When start speaking like Yoda did you?

  40. Sounds like the plot to every Superman movie by xmuskrat · · Score: 1

    Lex is at it again!

    --
    activestudios web design
  41. Have they checked Ebay? by chill · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ebay has a whole section dedicated to just meteorites.

    --
    Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
    1. Re:Have they checked Ebay? by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 1

      Ebay has a whole section dedicated to just meteorites.

      Thank you for your information. I'm just buying them all.

      Regards,
          Lex Luthor

    2. Re:Have they checked Ebay? by fyoder · · Score: 2, Funny

      I did. Nothing yet. Chopped up into little ebay sized pieces, that would be a lot of lots of Tunguska meteorite. Perhaps they're hacking it up even now. Though the question would be how would one know it was authentic? I guess it would be one of those things where they provide a 'certificate of authenticity' to guarantee it...

      Just had an idea. Time to fire up the old printer.

      --
      Loose lips lose spit.
    3. Re:Have they checked Ebay? by chill · · Score: 1

      You mean like all those "authentic" pieces of the Berlin Wall? There is precident.

      --
      Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
    4. Re:Have they checked Ebay? by Alsee · · Score: 2, Funny

      I was going to bid on this 3 ton Tunguska rock, but the shipping charges were astronomical.

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  42. In Soviet Russia... by hellfire · · Score: 1

    ...the joke is on YOU!!!

    --

    "All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"

  43. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  44. Because it would not have been a very wise idea? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    > If they were able to bring a 3-ton meteorite out of the tundra
    > to the foundation headquarters, why couldn't they have managed
    > to bring back even a scrap of the supposed alien wreckage?

    Because it would not have been a very wise idea?

    You need to read up on the literature:

    http://www.shnaresys.com/roadside/picnic/parallel. htm

    or at least watch the film:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalker_(film)

  45. 79 more days 'til Halloween, Silver Shamrock by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

    You obviously haven't heard of my previous work What, stealing on of the Stonehenge stones?

    "Ha ha. We had a time getting it here. You wouldn't believe how we did it."
    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  46. Ask Louis Tully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Interdimensional cross rip.

  47. so, how long until by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

    some grainy security cam video shows up on liveleak with three guys in a pickup truck backing into the place and grabbing the rock?

    1. Re:so, how long until by BobMcD · · Score: 1


      A really, really long time. Unless those three guys can lift a 'tonne' each...

  48. Re:Prime Suspect: by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

    the world's largest crime syndicate And yet it's a non-profit .organization? Who's running it: Robin Hood?
    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  49. Spizdili! by yoprst · · Score: 1

    3 tonnes? Being Russian, I don't see a problem here. The real question is why have they done it. Who's gonna buy it?

    1. Re:Spizdili! by Ortega-Starfire · · Score: 1

      The Hoffman institute is very interested in this artifact. It has severe implications for the dark tide.

      No, Seriously, thanks guys, I really needed a random plot hook for a campaign I'm running, and slashdot provides.

      Thanks!

      --
      ---- Liquid was a patriot ----
  50. Confused by GodCandy · · Score: 1

    I am still confused as to how someone would "steel" a 6000lb rock without leaving some good evidence. Anyone hear about a missing 18 wheeler in the area. And then where do you take it and what do you do with it.

    I have to agree... I think the aliens took it back.

  51. 3 tons? strange... by mchanaud · · Score: 1

    It's strange that in an old news (2004), that was only a 50 kilograms rock : "MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian scientists claim to have discovered the wreck of an alien device at the site of an unexplained explosion in Siberia almost a hundred years ago, the Interfax news agency reported. The scientists, who belong to the Tunguska space phenomenon public state fund, said they found the remains of an extra-terrestrial device that allegedly crashed near the Tunguska river in Siberia in 1908. They also claim to have discovered a 50-kilogram (110-pound) rock which they have sent to the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk for analysis. The Tunguska blast, in a desolate part of Siberia, remains one of the 20th century's biggest scientific mysteries. [...]"

  52. I know how they feel by Orange+Crush · · Score: 1

    I had a really cool Samurai statue that got stolen from my yard. I was sad it was gone, and was really kicking myself for leaving it in the yard. Like me, they shoulda just brought it inside . . . maybe it really didn't go with the interior decor.

  53. Carmen Sandiego! by rsw · · Score: 1

    Nosmo King has stolen the Tunguska Meteorite!!!

    OMG NOES!!!!1111one!!!lim(x->0)sin(x)/x!!11!1

    -=rsw

  54. another victim of China^W commodities prices? by toby · · Score: 1

    I can't be bothered RTFA, but has anyone linked this to prices for metals? Of course it's probably only worth a few roubles, refined...

    The closest correlate in recent news was the theft of a bronze sculpture from Henry Moore's estate in London (in reality, priceless; but worth about five million pounds on the art market, worth a few thousand on the metals market. It's been melted down by now, for a certainty).

    Metal road signs, street fittings, even fire engine nozzles are being stolen in the UK and US for the same market. Unless something cools China's demand for raw material to build crap for Western markets, it can be guaranteed that manhole covers, electric wires, train rails, and all other metal objects will not remain unsecured in public places.

    Another nail in the coffin of a civilised way of life. Thanks, free market capitalism!

    --
    you had me at #!
    1. Re:another victim of China^W commodities prices? by E++99 · · Score: 1

      Another nail in the coffin of a civilised way of life. Thanks, free market capitalism!

      WTF??? Theft is the antithesis of free market capitalism, and it has existed in every sort of society. Free market capitalism is what allows people to trade freely within the laws of fairness, civility, and honest competition.
  55. bye bye by postermmxvicom · · Score: 1

    You do know that because of your foresight that you will now be the first to die. Personally, I am going to avoid you and the hot chicks so that I might live through this near total zombie armageddon.

    --
    One last thing: Sometimes I wonder; "Is that someone's signature? Or do they type that at the end of each post?"
  56. Look under the mound of dirt! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The last time I heard of this type of prank, a Howitzer cannon had disappeared from a UC campus and all that was left was a big hole in the ground. They found it days later under the mound of dirt next to the hole. In fact, the cannon hadn't moved at all.

  57. This is why Karl Rove quit by Numbah+One · · Score: 1

    I wonder how Karl Rove is going to get it back to his house in Texas.

  58. Re:Prime Suspect: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Rob from the rich and give to the poor? You've got the wrong party...

  59. Actually... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Vladimir Sorokin wrote a book called Ice a couple years ago (available in translation now) that's kind of along those lines. Except instead of Siberian Space Zombies, there are blonde-haired, blue-eyed aliens who hide within the Nazi ranks and carry out their own agenda in secret. Apparently Sorokin is a respected writer in some circles. Can't say it was a very good book.

  60. Maybe there wasn't a rock to start with? by nodrogluap · · Score: 1

    If you're a conspiracy nut...

    I remember an episode of Banachek (starring the indomitable George Peppard) in which a multi-ton sculpture disappeared from a gallery soon after installation. Turns out that it just looked like it was made of stone, but was actually papier mâché or something of the sort and it was all a scam to claim the insurance...

  61. Putin did it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Obviously, Vladimir Putin stole it to use its power in his quest to rebuild the Soviet Union. The evidence is clear. Russia's President Vladimir Putin has described the collapse of the Soviet Union as "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century.

    Also, don't forget the loopholes in the constitutions of several former Soviet states that allow Putin to re-form the USSR. See STOCKWATCH, near the bottom right of the page.

  62. It wasn't stolen... by Cheefachi · · Score: 4, Funny

    It hatched!

    --
    An engineer is someone who spends 3 hours trying to solve a 2 hour problem in 1 hour - Anonymous
  63. It's still on his desk, right where he left it by Dekortage · · Score: 2, Funny

    According to this article, the meteorite went missing last June, but they only reported it now. HELLO? It's still on Lavbin's desk, right where he left it, but his desk is actually MORE MESSY than mine.

    --
    $nice = $webHosting + $domainNames + $sslCerts
  64. You knew it was coming... by 192939495969798999 · · Score: 1

    Let me be the last to say...

    In Soviet Russia, crashed alien ship steals YOU!

    There, now all ISR jokes are officially dead.

    --
    stuff |
    1. Re:You knew it was coming... by evandrofisico · · Score: 1

      Does netcraft confirms it?

  65. Let's get our priorities straight... by cryptomancer · · Score: 1

    Ok so the 3T meteorite which had never previously been found/disclosed gets stolen, big deal, smells of hoax.

    But wait, he claims he found alien ship wreckage? F* the rock, tell me the wreckage is still safe!!

    --
    Yes, we understand these tags always apply: fud, dupe, typo, slashdotted, topic name
  66. I believe there'a team investigating now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  67. Obviously... by smaerd · · Score: 0

    ...Gendo took to to extract Adam.

  68. Well... by whopub · · Score: 1

    How could someone steal a 3 tonne meteorite? I don't really see how the theft happened unnoticed. I have a theory, but I won't elaborate until I know the exact size, build and weight of the butler...
    1. Re:Well... by NoisySplatter · · Score: 1

      I've got a theory. It could be bunnies.

      --
      In Soviet Russia meme tires of you!
  69. Mirror! by antdude · · Score: 3, Informative

    The link is showing errors. Here is a mirror.

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  70. Maybe not stolen? by homesnatch · · Score: 1

    Maybe the landscapers just thought it was debris...

  71. How heavy? by spazoid12 · · Score: 1

    "that thieves have stolen a three-ton meteorite"

    The massive three tonne rock

    So is it ton or tonne?

  72. Re:one prime (bald) suspect... by macraig · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey, I resemble that remark! What are you implying?

  73. Dude! Plutionium Nyborg. by blueZ3 · · Score: 1

    Like, it's the best, man.

    --
    Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
  74. I am thinking... by Mister+Jimm · · Score: 1

    Robot HOOOOOOOOOOUUSE!!

  75. Only 3 possibilities by natebizu · · Score: 1

    1. Chris Angel made it vanish. Get him to make it re-appear. 2. Steve Jobs had it stolen. They needed more materials for iPhones. 3. Sony stole it as a part of some new DRM for blu-ray discs.

    1. Re:Only 3 possibilities by captainClassLoader · · Score: 2, Funny

      Or - 4. A viral marketing campaign for the soon-to-be-announced "Super Mario Brothers: Meteorite Mania!" game. Unfortunately, Adam and Morgan will only give it 2 1/2 stars, and it will disappear into well-deserved obscurity soon after.

      --
      "The plural of anecdote is not data" -- Bruce Schneier
  76. Three words... by naoursla · · Score: 1

    Alien force field technology. ...er, I mean four words.

    No, eight.

    Ten!

    Twelve!

  77. Plan 11 by yusing · · Score: 1

    Maybe the thieves are planning to hold the rock hostage until the wreckage of the alien spacecraft is released.

    --

    "You must try to forget all you have learned. You must begin to dream." -- Sherwood Anderson

  78. Bad investment, either way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    While I have no doubt certain specimens are valuable, there are plenty of "garden variety space rocks" for far less. As others mentioned, just check eBay for real prices.

    In any event don't spend money on "space rocks" if you are looking for an investment;

    a) there will be more of them falling on us.
    b) if you are optimistic about the future of space travel, we will be able to get all you want.
    c) if you are pessimistic about the sustainability of an advanced society, someday noone will care about the space rocks.

  79. Hoffa.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think it would have turned out that Jimmy Hoffa was buried inside the rock.

  80. I'm... by El+Capitan+Obvious · · Score: 1

    I'm in ur meterorite, soviet russia steals you! 3 ton meteorite missing...shouldnt be too difficult to track down, unless allegations of UFOs being involved with it are true. In the case of the latter, Ghostbusters are to be contacted stat.

  81. Wait, what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It was about 7 to 8ft long and weighed probably near 1000 pounds

    Made of wood, about 8ft long ... and you figure 1000 pounds how?

    Refill the coffee my friend. Next time you're in the basement, weigh a 2x4 stud, then run the math and find out just how big a half-ton pile of those is.

    But yeah, social engineering is great. I watched a chap take some decorations from a university cafeteria during the lunch hour. He just pulled on blue coveralls and borrowed a university extension ladder to do it. Since he looked the part, nobody noticed. He became one with the background noise.
    1. Re:Wait, what? by shotgunefx · · Score: 1

      With the mounts and all, I wouldn't be surprised, but perhaps I'm overestimating a tad, it was quite awhile ago. ;)

      I know it was pretty damn heavy. I helped move it once and it was heavier than most residential boilers, which at the time, was something I lugged around daily, so that puts it around 400lbs of wood at least.

      I'm not sure what type of wood it was made from, but it was carved by a chainsaw artist. Really amazing. Before it was stolen, I was trying to buy it for my house. (seemed like a good idea at the time)

      I wish I had a picture of it (it was recovered years later in someone's backyard btw)

      The restaurant is long defunct, the only picture I could find is this.
      http://www.schneearch.com/res_slide9.html

      Keep in mind, you can't see the rest very well because of the lighting, it went back to near where the rear legs would be.

      Exaggerated or not, it was pretty damn heavy and mounted very securely.

      --

      -William Shatner can be neither created nor destroyed.
    2. Re:Wait, what? by dintech · · Score: 1

      Wow, it looks like a fun place to eat! But I'm British so what would I know...

    3. Re:Wait, what? by shotgunefx · · Score: 1

      It wasn't bad, but didn't really fit the neighborhood. It only lasted a couple of years if that.

      --

      -William Shatner can be neither created nor destroyed.
  82. I did it by can.i.have.free.beer · · Score: 1

    and I'll return it for *ONE MILLION DOLLARS* (raises pinky to corner of mouth)

  83. Alien spacecraft? by ruinous · · Score: 0

    I was reading about the Tunguska event just yesterday. As I understand it, there's no evidence that the director of the foundation ever claimed he'd found an alien spacecraft; it's a spurious claim that showed up in some book or another by some "UFO Researcher" or some such thing and has circulated widely since. I'm under the impression that the Russians say "It was a comet!" whereas the Americans say "Nuh-uh, it was a meteor!", and there's much contention over this. But as far as I'm aware, these two are the only theories that hold much water for mainstream scientists.

  84. Its a meteorite? by Tired+and+Emotional · · Score: 1

    They probably mistook it for a Russian manufacture car.

    --
    Squirrel!
  85. Who would buy this? by ChrisA90278 · · Score: 1

    The only reason to steal this would be that there was a buyer for it. No one would just take it so they could have a big rock. So the real question is who in the world would buy this and what would they do with it. You can't show it to anyone. It would be as dumb as stealing a famous painting. You could only sell it to some nut case who wants to hide it in a closet.

    1. Re:Who would buy this? by danlock4 · · Score: 0

      Someone might have stolen it to perform their "paranormal experiments" with. That way, they wouldn't even be looking to sell it.

      --
      To .sig or not to .sig, that is the question.
    2. Re:Who would buy this? by geekoid · · Score: 1

      The Japanese love meteorites.
      The thieves could just cut it up and start selling it for 5 grand per quarter pound.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  86. alien spacecraft? by nurb432 · · Score: 1

    Ya, that inspires confidence in his other findings.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  87. There was no nuclear bomb dopped on Hiroshima by NitroWolf · · Score: 0

    Hmm... 1000 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima? In 1945?

    Hiroshima has never been the recipient of a nuclear bomb. They didn't even exist in 1945. The best we had were atomic bombs. Hiroshima got smashed by a 10 kiloton bomb.

    Nuclear bombs are generally considered to be of the fusion type. Atomic bombs are generally considered to be the fission type. Fusion is about 1000x more energetic than fission... If a nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, it would have been the same as the Tunguska explosion. Or worse.

    1. Re:There was no nuclear bomb dopped on Hiroshima by 49152 · · Score: 1

      Excuse me but that is complete and utter bullshit. I feel the urgent need to educate you a bit ;-)

      About the only thing your right about is that they only had fission based nuclear weapons in 1945.

      IANAP but this is usually thought in any high school physics curriculum.

      Both fusion and fission bombs are nuclear weapons because they both employ nuclear principles to release their energies.

      A fusion bomb works by the principle that two very light atomic nucleus (Hydrogen or Helium isotopes usually) fuses together. The combined new and larger atomic nucleus has a lower internal binding energy than the sum of the two original nucleus's had and this energy is released.

      A fission bomb works by the opposite principle where a heavy atomic nucleus (Plutonium or another large atom) is split into two lighter nucleus's (and usually a few other particle components), this process also liberates some nuclear binding energy.

      The release of nuclear binding energy with both fusion and fission is possible because the energy levels (binding energy per mass unit) is lowest in the mid range of the elementary table. So in effect both fusion and fission bombs are harnessing the same nuclear energy although the mechanism is a bit different.

      You can read a more detailed explanation here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon (follow the links to fusion and fission) or in any decent physics text book.

      Please note the use of the term 'nuclear weapon' for both fusion and fission based weapons.

      What seems to be confusing you is that in the early days especially the media used the term atomic energy or atom bomb instead of the more precise term 'nuclear'. Nuclear is a better term to use since it is closer to and more descriptive of the physical process that actually take place (the splitting or fusing of atomic nucleuses).

      It might also be confusing that fusion bombs are sometimes called thermo nuclear weapons because of the extreme (thermonuclear) temperatures needed to start the fusion process. In fact a fission bomb is used to trigger the fusion bomb.

  88. alien ship wreckage??? by Simonetta · · Score: 1

    If the explosion or impact did actually release energy greater than 1000 Hiroshima bombs, then how could anyone tell whether the resulting mess might have been part of an alien ship. Any matter that is exposed to that amount of energy is going end up looking rather strange. And matter is matter everywhere, metal is metal, alloy is alloy. Any alien life form that came in a star ship from 50 or so light years away is going to be using a design for a star ship that is not all that much different from our designs (such as on Star Trek). And none of those designs are going to be able to survive a 1000x Hiroshima blast. So where does this fool get off saying that there might have been a 'alien star ship' in the wreakage? What he probably saw was the remains of a steam locomotive that went through an enormous blast. Of course, in the Soviet era, blaming unexplained results from any unusual event on space aliens was probably the best thing to do. And yes, I do know that the blast occurred before the Soviet era.

    1. Re:alien ship wreckage??? by Fred_A · · Score: 1

      So you're saying it was just the light from Venus reflected from swamp gas from a weather baloon trapped in a thermal pocket then?
      Uh ok. That makes sense I guess.

      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
    2. Re:alien ship wreckage??? by Delirium+Tremens · · Score: 1

      You are assuming that alien ships would be made solely of matter.
      Why couldn't they be made of matter and wielded energy? The wielded energy could then absorb most of the blast -- say 999.9x the Hiroshima blast. Then there would be something of the matter left to look at.
      I don't believe in alien theories, but I believe even less in cheap dismissals.

    3. Re:alien ship wreckage??? by ultranova · · Score: 1

      Why couldn't they be made of matter and wielded energy? The wielded energy could then absorb most of the blast -- say 999.9x the Hiroshima blast. Then there would be something of the matter left to look at.

      What is "wielded energy" ? And why would it absorb the blast as opposed to adding to it (as energy tends to do) ?

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    4. Re:alien ship wreckage??? by Delirium+Tremens · · Score: 1

      If we knew the answers to those questions, we wouldn't be sitting on Earth wondering about it. Now, would we?

  89. Dahlak? Is it you? by rts008 · · Score: 1

    Nah. nevermind...3 tons!= The Moon.

    I guess I also go for the Moose and the Squirrel option, since I didn't see a CowboyNeil option.

    This wasn't a poll?!?!?

    Nevermind.....

    Hey, you kids...GET OFF OF MY LAWN!

    --
    Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
  90. Someone stole... by skeftomai · · Score: 1

    ...a one-ton giraffe statue from the putt putt golf place here in my town a couple years ago. No idea how they did it. It was just not there one morning.

  91. Round by AkumaReloaded · · Score: 0

    Look the thing was obviously round. So it only needed a couple of guys to push and it went down hill from there :)

    On a more serious note, what if they were unable to stop it from rolling, it might come crashing into my house anytime, I am not insured for meteorite incidents of any kind. Should have taken the platinum package...

  92. The Truth is by Frozen+Void · · Score: 1

    That is a alien spacecraft ingeniously disguised as meteorite. Why would anyone would steal a three-ton rock?

  93. It was a quantum black hole, ask carlos wu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  94. What a bunch "newsworthy" of Bull Sh!t by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event

      According to wikipedia the Tunguska event never produced (or was never found) any 3 Ton meteorites let alone any meteorites at all except for pebbles. In fact from what I have read because of the lack of big rocks, the Russians say it was POSSIBLY a comet and the Americans say it was an Asteroid --- so this proves nobody has a real sample, the rock wasnt stolen, tesla did it, or it proves nothing you read is true. Take your pick.

    -just my 2Cents
    -Clayton the coward