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Possible Meteorite Leaves a Crater In Latvia
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.
Update: 10/27 16:41 GMT by KD : Swedish mobile phone operator Tele2 has now fessed up to pulling off the hoax.
It's a self-supporting statement. Here's such a report if you still don't understand.
The rim looks pretty reasonable - new craters have raised rims (see, e.g., the Sedan crater).
What does look a little suspicious is the edge of the rim - I would expect at least some debris sprayed out into the surrounding fields, which I don't see in the pictures. Also, the video from last night is suspicious - why would stuff at the bottom of the crater burn ? That should just be more dirt - meteorite impacts rarely cause fires, and craters rarely have burnable stuff at the bottom.
If this isn't a hoax, I wonder if some World War II ordinance (say, a 500 lb bomb) couldn't have exploded ? Latvia was certainly fought over during the War (2 or even 3 times in places), and old explosives can become unstable and go off for little or no reason.
Here's a Venn diagram.
[(.)]
[] = Every thing.
() = Every X (kid).
. =Every X (kid) that is Y (in Latvia).