Submitted by Bigmac996: Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday. Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia.Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor," local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.Rescue teams and experts were dispatched to the scene, where the meteorite left a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide) and 20-foot-deep (six-meter-deep) crater, said local official Marco Limache."Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned," he said.

View: Full Article | Source: Yahoo! News

Whoa!

I saw this on the news this morning, well part of it anyway.

Worrying, because it could be some sort of bacteria that we have no bodily defence against. I bet that area will be cordoned off for miles whilst scientists and the military study it.

the experts are skeptical its a meteor, i mean personally i think these headaches are just the locals coming down from taking chemicals. cactus plants and etc. they want it to be something special to get people to go there and spend money.

I mean at mecca is a piece of meteorite fell from the sky, allah sent it??????????? and look what happened their

i remain open until the experts have been there and hope they report the truth

I read this earlier this morning, and getting the truth would be nice...They did say that it was the soil, dust rising that caused the illness of these people...It's possible this was a contaminated area to begin with. Unfortunately, once something like this is reported there is never a follow up.

No, I know what you mean. They must do their research (whoever "they" are ) and then they probably lock the files in some vault guarded by the Ghurkas or something.

What size would the meteor be to form the hole it did?

That would suck. But it could be worse. The disease could wipe out life on Earth, too. Unlikely, though.

TeraLink Was Here!

Better start getting your zombie survival gear ready!

It wasn't a meteorite. It was a 'micro' volcanic eruption. Hence the bright lights. Hence the noxious gasses.

Meow Purr.

Sorry, seems it was:

Experts confirm meteorite crash in Peru

By MONTE HAYES, Associated Press Writer

LIMA, Peru - A fiery meteorite crashed into southern Peru over the weekend, experts confirmed on Wednesday. But they were still puzzling over claims that it gave off fumes that sickened 200 people.

Witnesses told reporters that a fiery ball fell from the sky and smashed into the desolate Andean plain near the Bolivian border Saturday morning.

Jose Mechare, a scientist with Peru's Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute, said a geologist had confirmed that it was a "rocky meteorite," based on the fragments analyzed.

He said water in the meteorite's muddy crater boiled for maybe 10 minutes from the heat and could have given off a vapor that sickened people, and scientists were taking water samples.

"We are not completely certain that there was no contamination," Mechare said."

Full story, Source: AP/ Yahoo

The ill villagers should be quarantined and watched closely. After all, it did come from outer space and maybe they are slowely mutating into giant lizard people or something.

A great many people have weighed in on this subject from the scientific community. I am not only amazed that they have done so in such a hurried fashion but that of all the people (scientists) that have chimed in on this I didn't see anyone that had the words epidemiologist or virologist or dare I say exobiologists attatched to their name. I understand that a PhD may give you a wider purview of the scientific world but it does not make you all knowing or all seeing. To add to this all of the articles quotations included phrases like "I doubt" and "it's unlikely". I seem to remember reading in a manual someplace that you should know before you speak. It is this kind of universal dismissal that is going to get the human race into trouble. I can see the headlines now. "One Million dead from mystery plague!" and on the last page you'll see a story that's entitled "Crackpot Scientist says Meteorite is Crisis Culprit!".

Katana357

Villagers fall ill after fireball hits Peru
Radio reports that fumes from meteorite crater have sickened 600. --MSNBC

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20838944/?GT1=10357 See Video!

Just found this while browsing BBC. Which explains the smell and illness.

Click me *puppy-dog eyes*

To give an example, the meteorite that made Meteor crater in Arizona was approx. 150 feet in diameter. Most of it vaporized on contact.

Meteorites contain no radiation and are 100% completely safe, they can't make people sick.

Exactly.

From my previous link:

The whole situation sounds concocted just like when the officials confirmed it was a weather balloon that crashed in Roswell. Yah.