This week, another NASA report said that a falling meteorite killed a bus driver and injured three other passengers in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. However, experts have studied this issue for a long time and expressed serious doubts about the veracity of the information.
“Our study showed that in recent times there has not been a single meteor shower. Moreover, this is quite a rare phenomenon at this time of year, ”said G. K. Anupama, dean of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics at the New York Times.
NASA scientists were more categorical in this regard. They said in a statement that the crater in reality is 2 feet wide, 5 feet deep. It was also stated that the rift was made by another phenomenon.
According to International Comet Quarterly, meteorites have never killed people. The most “critical” incident occurred in 1908 in Tunguska (Siberia), when the danger of a meteorite was reported only after the object entered the Earth’s atmosphere. The blast wave leveled hundreds of square kilometers of forest, killed two men and a hundred reindeer. As for an imaginary meteorite in India, reports and surveys showed: yes, it was a foreign object, but very small. According to the BBC, Indian police described it as: “A small stone weighing approximately 10 grams”. Others say: "It was a solid jagged object of dark blue color. It could be held in one hand without any problems."
Derek Sears, a meteorologist and asteroid expert at NASA's space research unit, saw a photo of the shard. He told the BBC: “The image of the stone is too pale, so you can't say anything. I think if a pebble really would have killed someone, then we would have something more in our hands. "
If the object is not a meteorite, then what? Sears suggested: perhaps this is a fallen piece of aircraft. Others said it was probably part of the space junk that did not burn completely after passing through the Earth’s atmosphere.
