Meteorite falls in northern Latvia (26th October 2009)

RIGA, October 26 (RIA Novosti) - No one was injured after a meteorite fell near a small town in northern Latvia on Sunday, local Latvian media reported.

According to media reports, the meteorite fell near a residential house on the outskirts of Mazsalaca town in the Valmiera district of Latvia, leaving a crater of some 20 meters (66 feet) in diameter and 10 meters (33 feet) deep.

A spokesperson for the Latvian State Fire and Rescue Service said that rescuers and soldiers immediately cordoned off the territory, however, it is still not clear whether it was an asteroid or a space satellite.

"The territory has been immediately cordoned off as we still do not know what fell down from the sky. According to preliminary information, it was a meteorite. However, it is possible that it was a [space] satellite or its fragment. A radioactive contamination is also possible," she said.

A witness, who saw the object falling from the sky and leaving a burning trace behind, said it was making a noise similar to the one of an aircraft flying at a low altitude.

On March 2 this year, a 35-meter asteroid came within 72,000 kilometers of Earth. The size of the space rock was comparable to the asteroid that caused the Tunguska disaster, but there was no danger of a collision.

On June 30, 1908, an explosion equivalent to between 5 and 30 megatons of TNT occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in a remote region of Russia's Siberia.

The Tunguska blast flattened 80 million trees, destroying an area of around 2,150 sq km (830 sq miles).

It is assumed that a huge meteorite had hit the area, although research expeditions failed to find an obvious crater.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• meteorite
• latvia
• sunday
• space
• northern

[1sumer2go999]

... how stupid do they think we are ? fake.

[MisterSunson]

Remember folks, Dec 21st, 2012 - the end of the old world! Aplenty of chaos, turmoils, and strange phenomenons ahead -

so brave for yourself.

[Adrenalinez06]

First of all let's look at the vacuum of space.. It's extreeeeemly cold in most places.. Like we're talking -300c and colder. So that huge rock, which is most likely made of at least a bit of iron, has been sitting in space, cooling, for BILLIONS of years. It's cold. When it enters the atmosphere at 10-20 km/sec yea it does burn up, to a point, it actually develops what's called a "fusion crust" from the searing heat.. But the time it takes for it to pass the atmosphere is so short that the hea

[spiderman1289]

CLARK!!!! IS THAT YOU?!?!?!

[solsisod]

haha čalis kas filmēja tā bija uztraucies

[brambergs13]

ej dirst faking shit :D:D:D

[SorrowfulLesson]

@hermillan

You'd be shocked if you found out how much 'news' is actually fake.

What's more, you'll be shocked to find out how much 'fake' news is actually real. =)

[IchigoRIYUKI]

i'm so jealous that you found a meteor ;[ i only found comet ;D but it's cool to see this though ! GOOD JOB !

[themightyquinner123]

Dude...get real. Think about it. Do you realize that people have found meteors seconds after they fell and each one is cold to the touch. They fall through the atmosphere and heat up rapidly and burn. That is true. The meteors reach there maximum fall rate and pass through the 20,000 ft mark and if you ask a mountain climber the weather is very cold remember. The rock made of mostly iron and nickel cool very quickly. Resource. Astronomy magazine or sky and telescope.

[Coldgauge2k10]

@themightyquinner123 Dude how do you know ALL metors ae cold?!?!?! How many meteors have you found?!?!?!