Mystery illness strikes after meteorite lands

[Gray-Wolf]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20070918/tsc-...-c2ff8aa_1.html

Hows about this then?

There is a theory that virus's came from offworld so are we seeing the process in action?

[Angel15]

Incredible! Could be an offworld virus or it could be a reaction (radioactive) from the meteor itself - who knows .. very interesting though.

[skidders]

Incredible! Could be an offworld virus or it could be a reaction (radioactive) from the meteor itself - who knows .. very interesting though.

I wouldn't be surprised if it is caused by the impact opening a fissure in the earth and people are being affected by gasses from that.

[Soaring Hawk]

I'd be interested to read any follow-up to this and to find out if any tests were taken from the patients hospitalised, and if so what the results showed, if anything.

[Bobby]

Correlation doesn't mean causation, or it could be gasses from the strike. To suggest this is an alien virus is a bloody big leap.

[stella]

An impact that creates a hole 100 ft by 20 ft in dimension, would release

enough energy to be detected by seismometers around the world.

No such detections have been noted.

Any meteor seen in the sky around the time of the explosion, would

be coincidental.

I would speculate that this was more likely to have been the

ignition of a pocket of volatile gas, possibly by lightning.

[Gray-Wolf]

Seeing as Peru front's onto a subduction zone I would imagine the rumble you talk about would have been over written by the multitude of quakes constantly occuring along the plate as it descends down the subduction zone (and under the Andes).

Edited September 18, 2007 by Gray-Wolf

[Rustynailer]

I find the whole thing creepy and reminiscent of war of the worlds, I hope its just a highly dangerous radioactive satellite rather than those bloody Martians :lol: Except the ones from Mars Attacks as they are so funny

[Gray-Wolf]

Because it's made the Peruvian news, and with the interest in 'off world rocks', the meteorite will be recovered (and sold to the highest bidder) so I feel sure that we have not heard the end of it. If it was just a farmer in the back and beyond telling the tale then I'd have my doubts but seeing as hospitals,ambulance crews and police are involved/affected I place a little more faith in the reports.

I too have never heard anything as weird either!

[mezzacyclone]

on Reuters too GW > Clicky

got me thinkin now cos i saw a long trail early one night last week very low on the western horizon,

it was really bright and looked relatively slow due to the angle,

not the Peruvian one obviously but very interesting and different to a normal fall along the likes of Perseids etc.???

[Gray-Wolf]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7001897.stm

And on the beeb now too. I thought it wouldn't dissapear!

[Bobby]

Some research has turned up some possible theories:

1. It was a satellite with toxic components, perhaps radioactive ones. Perhaps hydrazine, which is used in rocket fuel (which can cause symptoms similar to those reported), from some space debris.

2. The meteorite had nickel in it, and apparently vapourised nickel can be very toxic and can cause some of the symptoms reported.

3. Perhaps the area it hit was high in fungus, and spores (such as anthrax) could have been released.

4. Some strange chemicals in the soil could have caused illness, or perhaps it hit a guano site or place of sewage storage. Maybe an old town dump even.

5. Plain mass hysteria and the thing that fell out of the sky is nothing to do with it.

All these are more likely me thinks than a space alien virus of doom.

Edited September 19, 2007 by Magpie

[Zachary]

Hundreds of people in South America are feeling ill after a close encounter with what's thought to be a meteorite that's fallen to Earth from space.

The mystery object left a massive 39m-wide crater when it crashed into the ground in a remote part of Peru.

About 600 people who've visited the site say they've had headaches and felt sick after breathing in smelly gasses.

A group of scientists is collecting samples from the crash site to find out if the object really was a meteorite.

It's thought the object gave off the smelly gases as it hit the ground, which is something that most meteorites do.

But it's not just people who aren't feeling well after breathing in the gases. A bull has died and some other animals are also sick.

Experts say they want people to stop visiting the site until they've got rid of all the gases.

From Newsround

[Gray-Wolf]

The BBC site I've linked tells us there is no chance of it being a 'stray ' satellite. The doctors/medics don't seem to feel they are dealing with psychosomatic symptoms either, especially the need to give oxygen to the police who attended the original incident.

So we're left with the impact site or the composition of the object (which they have sampled).

So far as Extra-terrestrial origins for virus' I thought it was NASA who had done the testing on the tenacity of virus' to survive both 'the trip' and entry into our atmosphere and found the virus quite happy in both environments. The fact that they had brought 'earth bacteria' back from the moon that had happily survived inside one of the 'test equipment' the first mission left would suggest that Bacteria do OK out there too!

[saint]

seems very strange to me

saint

[Gray-Wolf]

seems very strange to me

saint

And me too which is why I started the thread.

I get the distinct impression that some posters do not find it strange,odd or intriguing though and that I find even odder!!!

[Zenarcher]

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1284737,00.html

My question is could this virus spread all over the country and into others

[Angel15]

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1284737,00.html

My question is could this virus spread all over the country and into others B)

If it is a virus it could travel via people using airplanes etc visiting foreign countries .. unless it is airborne in which case it would travel of its own accord. Let's hope not though.

[Bobby]

I think it's safe to say that is pretty unlikely.

[Gray-Wolf]

I think it's safe to say that is pretty unlikely.

But then so were the circumstances leading to this news item occuring......

[Rustynailer]

I hope we hear what happens in the end and its not a simple gas explosion

The site here:- http://www.alaska.net/~meteor/FKG.htm sells some beautiful pieces of meteorite, I quite fancy a piece myself actually, bloody expensive though B)

[Polar Continental]

Very interesting, the symptoms people are suffering from though are unlikely to be virus related, as an incubation period (normally more than 24 – 48 hours) is required before people begin to feel ill, it seems from reading the article that most fell ill almost immediately when they ventured near to the impact site, so the illness these people are suffering from are more likely to be toxic chemical related. But if it’s an extraterrestrial virus, B) who knows.

[Turnedoutniceagain]

Very interesting, the symptoms people are suffering from though are unlikely to be virus related, as an incubation period (normally more than 24 – 48 hours) is required before people begin to feel ill, it seems from reading the article that most fell ill almost immediately when they ventured near to the impact site, so the illness these people are suffering from are more likely to be toxic chemical related. But if it’s an extraterrestrial virus, B) who knows.

Space Flu. Not sure i can cope with anymore epidemics. F&M, Bird flu etc, I'm bored with it all

[Michael Winston]

It doesn't look like an meteor impact crater to me. There would have been a tremendous explosion: I haven't seen or heard any reports of that, but if I'm wrong, please point me in the right direction. My guess is that the gases are terrestrial rather than extra-terrestrial.

Fascinating stuff, Gray Wolf. Thanks, everyone.

Kind regards,

Mike.

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Wibs has just found out first-hand the effect gas emissions can have on health.