[meteorite-list] Meteorite Doubting Thomas

From: Mike Fowler <mqfowler_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 11:35:05 -0500
Message-ID: <F749CED3-E9A4-40B9-BF44-DBE5FA63C15B_at_mac.com>

>

> I have problems with the meteorite theory:
> 1. Meteorites, as this List knows, come in cold, not hot enough to
> make the water in the crater "boiling", as several witnesses stated.
> 2. Meteorites usually travel a long distance from where the glowing
> meteor is first seen. If the locals saw the bolide, chances are
> good whatever they saw fell a long distance away, not close enough
> for them to get there soon after it fell.
> 3. Speaking of rocks, by now, everyone in every little hamlet knows
> that there are crazy people out there who pay big money for
> meteorites. If there was a "shower of rocks" associated with the
> fall, how come none of the other purported meteorites have been
> recovered?
> 4. I await the analysis of a real meteorite specialist, not a
> geologist, not a vulcanologist, and not media speculation! No
> reputable scientist from outside Peru has so far investigated the
> crater or seen the alleged meteorite fragments.
> 5. The sickness associated with the crater is a likely red herring,
> and unrelated to a real meteorite.
>
> My 2 centavos.
> Tracy Latimer


Tracy,

Point one:

Meteorites may be cold, but when the several hundred kilograms (or
more) of mass comes to a complete stop from a speed of hundreds of KM
per hour, most of the kinetic heat of motion is turned into heat.
You do the math, but if hitting a hammer on an anvil can make it hot,
just think of something thousands of times heavier, and thousands of
times more velocity and the result is obvious!

Point two:

Small meteorites loose their cosmic velocity miles high, and and the
rest of their fall is dark. A very large meteor will retain a
substantial amount of its cosmic velocity until impact. Why should
it not be incandescent up untill the moment of impact?

Mike Fowler

Chicago
Received on Sat 22 Sep 2007 12:35:05 PM PDT