Doubts over Latvia 'meteor crash' Hoax!

A military unit dispatched to the site found normal levels of radiation

Scientists investigating a large crater in a field in northern Latvia, believed to have been caused by a meteorite, now suspect it was a hoax.

Fire crews were called to the scene on Sunday outside the town of Mazsalaca by locals who said something had fallen from the sky and set the land on fire.

One expert who had said the 9m (27ft) wide crater was caused by an impact, said he now thought it was artificial.

The hole was too tidy to have been caused by a meteorite, he said.

It would be unusual for such a large meteorite to hit the Earth, as most objects burn up in the atmosphere and never reach the surface.

In 2007, a meteorite ploughed into the countryside near the Andean town of Carancas in Peru, creating a 15m (50ft) wide crater.

'Pyrotechnic compound'

On Monday, a spokeswoman for the Latvian State Fire and Rescue Service said firefighters had been told by a witness about a fire in a field near Mazsalaca at 1730 (1530 GMT) the previous day.

"We concluded that the impact must have come from the air and this is why we believe it could have been a meteorite," Inga Vetere said.


At this time, we don't think it was a meteorite

Ilgonis Vilks, Institute of Astronomy, University of Latvia
A military unit sent to the site found normal radiation levels.

Uldis Nulle, a scientist at the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre, said his first impression after visiting the site late on Sunday had been that the crater was caused by a meteorite.

However, on closer inspection in daylight he found that the hole was too tidy to have been caused by a genuine impact.

"This is not a real crater. It is artificial," he told the Associated Press.

Ilgonis Vilks, chairman of the Institute of Astronomy of the University of Latvia, also said he could not rule out the possibility that it was a hoax.

"At this time, we don't think it was a meteorite," he told reporters.

Geologist Dainis Ozols said he believed someone had dug a hole with a mechanical digger and tried to make it look like a meteorite crater by burning a pyrotechnic compound at the bottom.

It is thought the meteorite would have to have been at least 1m (3ft) in diameter to create a crater that size.

The owner of the land is now selling tickets to people who want to see the crater, reportedly to pay for wear and tear on the road.

Source

FORUM