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(meteorobs) RHONDURAS CRATER REPORT
In a message dated 96-12-16 20:44:38 EST, you write:
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Dear George,
Thanks for the message. Have you seen the following?
Duncan
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Date: Sun, Dec 15, 1996 6:39 PM PST
The Associated Press
By FREDDY CUEVAS
Associated Press Writer
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) -- A meteorite slammed into a sparsely
populated area of Honduras last month, terrifying residents and
leaving a 165-foot-wide crater, scientists confirmed Sunday.
Villagers reported seeing a fireball crash and break into small
red and yellow pieces on Nov. 22 near San Luis, in the western
province of Santa Barbara. But Sunday's statement was the first
official word that the object was a meteorite.
Maria Cristina Pineda, a physicist from the National Autonomous
University of Honduras, said Sunday that the meteorite was composed
of materials that were 4 billion years old, Pineda said.
There was no word on the dimensions of the meteorite, but it was
much smaller than the size of the crater. Some 50,000 years ago, a
meteorite 180 feet wide smashed into northern Arizona and dug a
crater 4,000 feet wide. And a 300-foot meteorite struck in Siberia
in 1908, leveling trees for miles.
Residents of San Luis, 125 miles west of the capital, were
terrified by the meteorite's crash, which sparked a fire that
destroyed several acres of coffee plants and damaged a main
highway.
``We saw a large ball of fire, with a long tail that rapidly
descended from the sky and fell near San Luis, before our
incredulous eyes,'' said Elmer Adan Rivera, a teacher from the
region.
``I arrived almost immediately to the site of the explosion,''
said peasant Francisco Aguilar Sabillon. ``There were enormous
flames, and everything was destroyed. Because of that I fled from
the place, frightened.''
Authorities have asked those living nearby to stay away from the
crash site. The meteorite did not appear to have any properties
that would pose a threat to humans, they said.
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