Something from space hits ground and leaves 100ft wide crater in Mexico

A meteorite has smashed into the ground in Mexico, leaving a 30 meter (100 feet) wide crater, reports said. The meteorite impact was in the Ahuazotepec Municipality in Central Mexico between the cities of Puebla and Hidalgo. The precise impact area of the meteorite was in a relatively unpopulated area and hit around 6.30pm local time, Mexican media said. The Ahuazotepec, Mexico meteorite impact was so massive it broke windows in homes many kilometers from the epicenter and people reported buildings swaying and mass confusion. Other reports said the Mexico meteorite impact partially damaged a road and a bridge. The Mexican military was called in to lock down the area where the apparent space rock slammed into the ground. Initial fears where that the impact was a aircraft crashing to the ground, but that report was later dismissed. The Central Mexico meteorite event was witnessed by countless people in the region of the impact, with people as far away as Mexico City saying they saw the burning object enter the atmosphere.

via Cosmic Event - Middle-America - Mexico - Cosmic Event - ubAlert.

iMAGE: Latitude:   20° 2'51.92"N, Longitude:    98°14'22.25"W

A LOUD explosion and ball of fire that people in central Mexico reported seeing in the sky was actually a Russian satellite plunging back to earth, experts said. "We think it was the space wreckage of a Russian satellite that was catalogued by the Department of Defense of the United States and which we knew could pass over Mexican territory," engineer Fernando de la Peno said.

Mr De la Peno is also a chief proponent of establishing a Mexican space agency.

Reports of a large meteorite reached Mexican media and police on Wednesday from the Hidalgo and Puebla states.

Many said they felt the ground shake with the blast and some reported seeing a huge crater on the ground blown out by the fiery object.

But nothing was found after a through search of the area yesterday.

Mr De la Pena said the space debris was likely the Cosmos 2421 reconnaissance satellite launched by the Russian Navy in June 2006 that malfunctioned and broke apart into 15 pieces two years later.

-heraldsun