RSOE EDIS - Situation Update No. 1 : Mexico - Cosmic Event

RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service Budapest, Hungary RSOE EDIS ALERTMAIL

Situation Update No. 1 Posted:2010-02-11, 09:20:14 [UTC] Ref.no.: CO-20100211-24898-MEX Situation Update No. 1 On 2010-02-12 at 04:13:11 [UTC] Event: Cosmic Event Location: Mexico Ahuazotepec Municipality Between the cities of Puebla and Hidalgo Situation: According to media sources in Mexico, a 30 meter wide crater was left after a meteorite impacted approximately 100 miles to the northwest of Mexico City in the municipality of Ahuazotepec, Puebla. Eyewitnesses report seeing a light and then a "roar" as the alleged meteorite hit, swaying nearby buildings. According to one translated source, a bridge had been damaged by the impact that occurred at 6:30 pm local time on Wednesday evening. Windows were also shattered as a result of the blast. Local authorities reported that emergency phone lines were jammed with scared people calling to find out what was happening. The Mexican army arrived at the scene and cordoned off the area according to another news source. The possibility of a downed aircraft has been ruled out by the authorities. However, new reports from the region suggest that the impactor wasn't a meteorite at all, but it did come from space. José Jaime Herrera Cortes of the Mexican Space Agency has gone on record to say the object was a piece of space junk originating from a Russian satellite. Cortes indicates that the U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed the object was a piece of the Cosmos 2421 satellite that was launched in 2006. As of 2008, 15 fragments of the spacecraft were being tracked. The piece of space junk, cataloged with the ID number 33006 was expected to pass over Mexico at the approximate time of impact. Personally, I find it strange how there are no photographs of the impact site and few details about the damage that has been done (although the impact site does appear to be in a sparsely populated region). Also, the reports are sketchy, so before we can start drawing any conclusions we'll have to wait for an official announcement. Please DO NOT reply to this message: replies may be treated as errors and result in your subscription being deleted. If you have trouble or other queries, send email to havaria@rsoe.hu RSOE EDIS is operated by the National Association of Radio-Distress Signalling and Infocommunications (RSOE), Budapest, Hungary. Because of the complexity of this system and its dependence on other systems, we cannot be responsible for delays or failures in forwarding or transmission. You're receiving this AlertMail because you subscribed for the service. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Contact: havaria@rsoe.hu