[meteorite-list] NPA 09-04-1965 W. Cassidy, Campo Del Cielo Meteorite = Earth Satellite

[MARK BOSTICK]

Paper: The Times Recorder
City: Zanesville, Ohio
Date: Saturday, September 4, 1965
Page: "PAGE 8 - B Section"

Ancient Earth Satellite Claimed

     NEW YORK (UPI) - A group of scientists reported yesterday that evidence 
found in northern Argentina indicated that a huge natural earth satellite 
broke up in the atmosphere about 5,800 years ago and deposited large 
fragments in the flat, semi-arid provinces of Santiago del Estero and 
Chanco.
     Writing in the current issue of Science Magazine, the group headed by 
Columbia University geologist Dr. William A. Cassidy, said it discovered 
nine meteorite craters extending in almost a straight line for 10 miles and 
a field of smaller meteorites extending a distance of more than 45 miles 
near the line.
     The article said radiocarbon dating of charcoal found under a crater 
rim indicated 3835 B.C. as the maximum and probable age of the craters.
     The scientists said the great extent and extreme narrowness of the 
crater field indicated a high-altitude breakup of a meteoroid in a very flat 
trajectory, leading to speculation that the meteorite may have been a 
natural satellite of the earth in decaying orbit.  They said meteorites 
found earlier in northern Chile may be fragments of the same satellite "that 
made more than one revolution of the earth before coming down."
     The article said the Spanish were the first westerners to visit the 
site, known as the field of the sky to local Indians, in 1576.  They brought 
back large pieces of iron which attracted other expeditions, one of which in 
1783 turned over a large mass of iron so that it was last beneath the 
earth's surface.
     The scientists dug out more than 500 meteorites weighting from 18 
ounces to 78 pounds in the field of the sky area.  A local farmer chanced on 
a 6,000 pound meteorite with his plow and give it the Argentine government.  
It is now being cut in half in Germany for structural studies of the 
interior.

(end)


Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
Wichita, Kansas
http://www.meteoritearticles.com
http://www.kansasmeteoritesociety.com
http://www.imca.cc

http://stores.ebay.com/meteoritearticles

PDF copy of this article, and most I post (and about 1/2 of those on my 
website), is available upon e-mail request.

The NPA in the subject line, stands for Newspaper Article. The old list 
server allowed us a search feature the current does not, so I guess this is 
more for quick reference and shortening the subject line now.