alienation news

Giant meteorite wrecked forest

A giant meteorite that struck the Irkutsk region of Siberia last September had the force of a nuclear bomb of medium power and devastated a huge area of taiga, Russian scientists reported on Friday.
A 10-strong expedition of scientists and doctors was unable to identify and reach the place where the meteorite landed until mid-May. It was finally located in the very remote, wooded semi-mountainous region of Bodaibo, northeast of Irkutsk and Lake Baikal.
"Over an area of 100 square kilometres trees were smashed in a pattern characteristic of very powerful blast effects," expedition leader Vadim Chernobrov told a news conference.
He said that the meteorite had disintegrated before hitting the ground and had left about 20 craters, up to 20 metres in diameter, with an explosion "equivalent to the power of an atomic bomb of medium size".