Carancas mysteries 'emit' strange disease

Hours after a meteorite descended near the remote village of Carancas in Peru in 2007, hundreds of people began to show strange symptoms.

The Carancas meteorite has been puzzling to cosmologists since it plunged into the highlands of Peru in 2007. How could this meteorite fall to Earth without melting, and the incomprehensible disease seems like emanating from the "sky rock" sweeping through a nearby village, are two questions that remain unanswered even after more than a decade has passed.

Carancas crater a few weeks after the collision.

A strange visitor in Carancas

On September 15, 2007, the small village of Carancas in the remote alpine region of Peru welcomed an unexpected guest that confused the villagers and local authorities. Initially, the curious locals rushed in to find nothing but a crater about 6 meters deep and 30 meters wide that the meteorite had "dug" into the ground. It is quickly filled by groundwater.

The "uninvited guest" turned out to be a meteorite, rather a chondrite (the rock that hasn't changed due to the melting or metamorphosis of the parent), about the size of a small, heavy dining table. 12 tons. An analysis of debris from meteorite found minerals such as olivine, pyroxene and feldspar.

Meteor hunters like Michael Farmer (pictured) travel to Carancas from around the world to collect unusual pieces of cosmic rock. (Photo: meteoriteguy.com).

Before the meteorite landed at 11:45 am, witnesses said they saw a fiery object crossing the sky. Apparently, it burns bright enough that residents of Desaguadero, a city located nearly 20km from Carancas, can also be observed during the daytime.

The scientists identified the Carancas meteorite came from an asteroid belt about 110 million miles from Earth , floating between Mars and Jupiter. It is one of the largest meteorites to land on Earth according to recent data.

The asteroid flew at about 16,000 km / h when it crashed into Earth. Shock from the collision was recorded by an ultrasonic monitoring station everywhere in neighboring Bolivia. The special thing is that most meteors crumble into fragments and burn before they can reach the ground, but the meteor fell on Carancas is almost intact.

'This meteorite plummeted to Earth at 3km / sec, exploded and buried itself in the ground' , said Peter Schultz, professor of geopolitical sciences who came to the scene 2 months after the collision. .  

A meteorite crater with rocks splashing around and ground water filled. (Photo: meteoriteguy.com).

A chondrite meteorite confuses scientists, but other events that occur after the collision cause even more mystery for them. 

Strange disease

Because the area where the meteorite fell was a secluded mountain region, the first people to reach the scene were locals.

Gregorio Urury, a farmer in Carancas, of the Aymara indigenous community, was one of the first to see the crater. Feeling that the incident should be reported to the authorities, Urury drove his motorbike to Desaguadero to alert the police. But when he returned to the scene dozens of villagers gathered there.

Curious about a deep crater with an unfamiliar rock in the water, the locals collected fragments of broken rock from the meteorite. According to eyewitnesses, the water in the crater was still boiling and a strong odor of sulfur in the air. Black pieces of stone that people picked up seem to be emitting smoke.

Only a few hours later, the first reports of the villagers falling ill began to appear. Many people suspect that meteors may affect people's health. A rumor quickly spread that the poisoned or cursed meteorite fragment was the cause of mass illness. Many people experience nausea, dizziness, headache, and vomiting for no apparent reason. Hospitals in the region also quickly filled patients infected with the mysterious disease.

Carancas mayor, Nestor Quispe, said patients had headaches, eye pain, irritated skin, nausea and vomiting. According to a report by the official Peruvian news agency, Andina, a total of 200 people with various symptoms were examined by doctors, while 15 patients closest exposed to the meteorite were given blood samples for stool. product.

Worse still, there were reports of cattle suffering from nosebleeds, some of which died abnormally. The villagers also feared the local water source was no longer safe to drink and blamed the "stranger" from the sky.

Theories behind strange disease 'caused by meteorite'

A piece of Carancas meteorite piece weighs 27.70 grams. (Image: Wikimedia Commons).

In fact, superstitious notions of celestial bodies have existed throughout ancient history in different cultures. The Aztecs believed that the Quetzalcoatl deity associated with Venus, was able to predict the future, while the Romans believed that the victory they had was due to possessing a piece of meteorite, revered as ' The needle of Cybele '. In the historical records of ancient Greece and China, 'falling rocks' events are also recorded and believed to influence world events.

In Carancas, the arrival of asteroids has ignited the fear of delusion. Local scientists like geological engineer Lusia Macedo tried to calm the villagers, easing their fears of an impending doom disaster.

Mayor Carancas Maximiliano Trujillo convened a public meeting of about 800 people to hear from scientists about meteorites. But some people still do not believe that the cosmic stone enchanted by the gods is a bad omen for the future. Eventually, the mayor of Carancas had to take a traditional measure to alleviate community concerns. Mr. Trujillo asked Marcial Laura Aruquipa, one of the last two magicians remaining in the village, to perform a ritual rite in the hope of reassuring people that the meteorite is not dangerous. 

Experts then suggested that the cause of the strange disease related to the Carancas meteorite is arsenic that seeped into groundwater and evaporated due to the heat of the meteorite before the impact. Arsenic flies into the air as a gas and exposes people who are in close contact with the asteroid symptoms to be poisoned.

Although this hypothesis sounds plausible, other experts point out that meteorites falling to Earth are often not seen to emit high temperatures or any odors as locals witness with them. Carancas jelly. So the case is closed but still a mystery for many people.