No More Fake Meteorite Strikes!

THE BARRINGER METEOR CRATER in ARIZONA

We have already seen how many folks, albeit gullible, were inconvenienced by the "balloon boy" farce, but where it really gets nasty and reckless is when companies have to trick whole nations to promote their products. Such was the case with the recent "meteor strike" publicity stunt, in Latvia, compliments of Tele2 - a Swedish mobile phone company. (This was as reported in The Financial Times, Oct. 28, 'Companies & Markets', p. 13)

Did these jokers really think it would be cute to emulate the arrival of a 0.1 m meteorite (the term "meteor" is reserved for when it is seen in the atmosphere, though the FT story refers to "meteor strike"), to the extent of even digging out a hole over 30 feet wide and 10 feet deep? And then completing the fakery by burning chemicals at the base to create the impression of a smoldering object still around?

As the FT noted (ibid.)

"The Stockholm -based company admitted it had dug the hole and burned chemicals"

Like the balloon story, this one garnered worldwide attention. All the moreso because seldom have cameras or human eyes actually been on hand to witness and record such a momentous strike.

The last one I beheld, in Barbados some 23 years ago, occurred when a meteorite (estimated at 0.4m across) plowed into Mt. Tenantry and raised quite a ruckus. The explosive intensity alone shattered eardrums for over a mile from the site. The impact was written up in an issue of The Journal of the Barbados Astronomical Society.

However, there was no major crater left behind, so - when we investigated (a team of us from the Barbados Astronomical Society) we concluded that nearly all its kinetic energy was converted into sound, and heat. Indeed, you couldn't go near the site and a lot of trees were still burning by the time we arrived.

Needless to say, these strikes are rare- which is just as well. To see one of the biggest impacts ever, check out the Barringer Meteor Crater - shown in the photo at top, and created some 25,000 yrs. ago. The object that made this crater had a diameter of nearly 35m (prompting some to suggest an asteroid did it, not a meteorite - but the distinction is academic since it is still at the limits of the largest meteorites).

The energy was estimated to be 1000 times that of the Hiroshima A-bomb, and the crater left was 1.2 km (0.75 mile) wide and nearly 167 m or 551' deep. If such a monster meteorite had impacted a small suburb, say near Miami Gardens, FL (near Dolphin stadium) the whole region would be almost totally decimated, from the Palmetto Expressway, to way past the Broward County line.

This is another reason it isn't too classy or smart to try to invent fake meteorite hits. Fortunately, in this case, on site inspectors saw a too symmetrical crater - and figured it had to be man-made, not natural. The smoking detritus also aroused suspicion, not to mention why there was already a camera crew on hand filming it. How convenient is that? To be there within seconds of an impact?

As it has turned out, according to the FT report Tele2 has paid the price. The Latvian Interior Ministry has vowed not to do business with them, and Latvian police are evidently to launch a "formal investigation".

Faking meteorite strikes to promote a new product is not to be commended any more than faking balloon flights with a small boy inside, to try and grab a new reality TV-show.