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Possible Meteorite Leaves a Crater In Latvia

Posted by kdawson on from the splatvia dept.

Several readers made sure we know about the possible meteorite that crashed into a field in northern Latvia yesterday. It left a crater 9m across and 3m deep according to the AP; 15m x 5m according to AFP; or 20m x 10m according to CNN. Sky News reporting includes a video recorded while approaching the smoking crater on foot; something is burning in its center. Xinhua has a brief mention with a good portrait of the crater in daylight, with people standing on its rim for perspective. Various outlets report that local authorities tested for radiation and found levels to be normal. Some quote an expert who estimates that, if it was a meteorite, it was probably around 1m in diameter when it hit. Update 16:40 GMT by SM: As many readers have pointed out, this has been declared a hoax.
Update: 10/27 16:41 GMT by KD : Swedish mobile phone operator Tele2 has now fessed up to pulling off the hoax.

5 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. Hoax by NtroP · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's been reported as a hoax.

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    1. Re:Hoax by hammeraxe · · Score: 5, Informative

      It has been reported as hoax, indeed. http://www.delfi.lv/news/national/politics/zinatnieki-mazsalaca-visticamak-nav-nokritis.d?id=27621943 This is the original story in Latvian, although it does not seem very reliable to me. They claim that it is a strange coincidence that there was someone with a camera near the crash site, but hey, every kid's got a camera these days. I suppose we'll have to wait until the official investigation is over

    2. Re:Hoax by KenAndCorey · · Score: 4, Informative

      In English: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091026/ap_on_re_eu/eu_latvia_meteorite

    3. Re:Hoax by NewbieProgrammerMan · · Score: 4, Informative

      The Bad Astronomer says it's fake.

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  2. Bad astronomy by Kell+Bengal · · Score: 4, Informative

    As Phil Platt pointed out in his book, meteors (unless they're really huge) are typically cold to the touch by the time they hit the ground. Even if it had enough kinetic energy to make a huge crater, the meteor would have pulverised itself and its fragments quickly cooled. Check out his whole site at http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/index.html

    I'm calling hoax on this one.

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