Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Peru 'meteorite' strike leaves 200 sick
www.abc.net.au ^ | Wednesday, 19 September 2007 | Agençe France-Presse

Posted on 09/19/2007 9:09:31 PM PDT by ATOMIC_PUNK

Peru 'meteorite' strike leaves 200 sick

About 200 villagers have fallen ill from mysterious gases that spewed from a crater in southeastern Peru believed to have been caused by a meteorite crash, officials and scientists say.

But they say no radiation has been detected.

Scores of residents of the farming village of Carancas began vomiting and complaining of headaches and dizziness after an apparent meteorite struck the area at the weekend, leaving a crater 8 metres deep and 20 metres wide.

"We have determined with precision instruments that there is no radiation," says engineer Renan Ramirez of the Peruvian Nuclear Energy Institute.

Ramirez says the illnesses may have been triggered by sulfur, arsenic or other toxins that may have melted in the extreme heat produced by the apparent meteorite strike.

"It is a conventional meteorite that, when it struck, produced gases by fusing with elements of the terrain," he says.

He also ruled out that the object was a satellite.

But not all experts are convinced that the 'crater' was really formed by a meteorite, instead suggesting that natural geological processes could have led to the release of noxious gases into the atmosphere.

Nestor Quispe, mayor of the nearby town of Desaguadero, says about 200 sick villagers are being treated and that Carancas residents fear long-term side effects.

The director of the health ministry in the Puno region, Jorge Lopez, says none of the patients was in serious condition but that they would have to undergo blood and neurological tests as a precaution in three to six months.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: artbell
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-26 next last

1 posted on 09/19/2007 9:09:33 PM PDT by ATOMIC_PUNK
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: ATOMIC_PUNK
Didn’t a horror movie start like this?
2 posted on 09/19/2007 9:14:14 PM PDT by HuntsvilleTxVeteran (Remember the Alamo, Goliad and WACO, It is Time for a new San Jacinto)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran

The blob. And about 1000 other B movies.

If they all turn into some sort of zombies running around trying suck out the brains of normal people, Peru’s in trouble.


3 posted on 09/19/2007 9:21:57 PM PDT by Nathan Zachary
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran

Andromeda Strain

Based on the book.


4 posted on 09/19/2007 9:26:55 PM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Nathan Zachary

Too bad it didn’t land in Venezuela


5 posted on 09/19/2007 9:27:27 PM PDT by hercuroc
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran

Think this is the premise behind Dawn of the Dead.


6 posted on 09/19/2007 9:30:58 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (http://www.vetsforfreedom.org/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: hercuroc

“Darth Vader” perhaps?


7 posted on 09/19/2007 9:31:23 PM PDT by notaliberal
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Nathan Zachary

Most of those old movies were stellar by todays standard.


8 posted on 09/19/2007 9:32:54 PM PDT by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: ATOMIC_PUNK

I think we may have discovered Mecca west.


9 posted on 09/19/2007 9:33:35 PM PDT by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Nathan Zachary
If they all turn into some sort of zombies running around trying suck out the brains of normal people, Peru’s in trouble.

Send in these guys.

10 posted on 09/19/2007 9:33:53 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: ATOMIC_PUNK

Zombies.


11 posted on 09/19/2007 9:34:49 PM PDT by spetznaz (Nuclear-tipped Ballistic Missiles: The Ultimate Phallic Symbol)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ATOMIC_PUNK

Probably the effect of hot meteoritic material making contact with water and oxygen; my guess is that sulpher compounds are involved.


12 posted on 09/19/2007 9:35:26 PM PDT by Fitzcarraldo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ATOMIC_PUNK

Wow. That’s a good size crater. Had to be significant mass moving at pretty good velocity to vaporize sufficient material to make nearby inhabitants ill. I wonder how big the rays are emanating from the crater?


13 posted on 09/19/2007 9:49:40 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ATOMIC_PUNK

On this week’s episode of Torchwood on BBC, this happened when a meteor crashed. Well, except on BBC, there always has to be something about sex in it, and people turning into little piles of carbon..


14 posted on 09/19/2007 10:09:23 PM PDT by sockmonkey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Fitzcarraldo
“Probably the effect of hot meteoritic material making contact with water and oxygen; my guess is that sulpher compounds are involved.”

It has been suggested by one scientist that it was not a meteor, but a gas eruption from underground.

15 posted on 09/19/2007 10:14:08 PM PDT by AlexW (Reporting from Bratislava, Slovakia. Happy not to be back in the USA for now.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Nathan Zachary

I’d pay money to watch some guy put on a alien costume and go walking into the village.


16 posted on 09/19/2007 10:17:32 PM PDT by dragnet2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: dragnet2
I’d pay money to watch some guy put on a alien costume and go walking into the village.

LOL.


17 posted on 09/19/2007 10:22:44 PM PDT by Fitzcarraldo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: AlexW
It has been suggested by one scientist that it was not a meteor, but a gas eruption from underground.

I'm willing to bet that guy is wrong. LOL

18 posted on 09/19/2007 10:23:50 PM PDT by Fitzcarraldo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: dragnet2

Darn it! I must have deleted the John kerry with his bunny suit pic


19 posted on 09/20/2007 12:14:52 AM PDT by Nathan Zachary
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Nathan Zachary

“If they all turn into some sort of zombies running around trying suck out the brains of normal people, Peru’s in trouble.”

I think it maybe the zombies that’d find themselves in trouble!!!


20 posted on 09/20/2007 12:16:29 AM PDT by batco-barry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-26 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson