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.
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.
Andromeda Strain
Based on the book.
Too bad it didn’t land in Venezuela
Think this is the premise behind Dawn of the Dead.
“Darth Vader” perhaps?
Most of those old movies were stellar by todays standard.
I think we may have discovered Mecca west.
Zombies.
Probably the effect of hot meteoritic material making contact with water and oxygen; my guess is that sulpher compounds are involved.
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?
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..
It has been suggested by one scientist that it was not a meteor, but a gas eruption from underground.
I’d pay money to watch some guy put on a alien costume and go walking into the village.
LOL.
I'm willing to bet that guy is wrong. LOL
Darn it! I must have deleted the John kerry with his bunny suit pic
“If they all turn into some sort of zombies running around trying suck out the brains of normal people, Perus in trouble.”
I think it maybe the zombies that’d find themselves in trouble!!!
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