Post by Jaga on Oct 26, 2009 9:28:42 GMT -7
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.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8326483.stm
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.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8326483.stm