[meteorite-list] Peruvian bolide rehash post #5
Matson, Robert
ROBERT.D.MATSON at saic.com
Fri Mar 2 18:35:44 EST 2007
Here was Randall's reply this morning to post #4 from last night.
Oh, just so people are clear, these are not private messages (the
reposting of which would be a clear etiquette no-no). These
are messages Randall sent to both me and Meteorite Central, but
because they contained hypertext, they have not yet appeared.
- - - -
Sent: 3/2/2007 9:23am
Robert,
Well done and thank you for your thoughtful reply. I know I claimed 15
km/sec and that was way off the mark It was a very crude attempt at
trying to model the impact using the Earth Impacts Effect Program. It
was not a plausible scenario and I was wrong in using that number.
After doing a bit of research, I agree that 15 km/sec velocity would
be out of the question just as standard terminal velocity could also
be eliminated. Perhaps more in the range of 2-5 km/sec would be
more realistic. I was experimentally plugging in numbers into the
Earth Impact Effects Program to approximate a 4.0 Richter seismic
event. I was trying to work backward from the only know values that
I have. Observed trajectory and seismic data. The unknowns are mass,
density, velocity.
I´m impressed by your education and expertise but the facts remain:
An event was witnessed. An event was felt. An event was recorded. And
something punched a hole greater than 100 meters into the side of a
mountain less than 12 kilometers from the recorded epicenter, leaving
a sheared face, and a cup-like structure in an area almost as dry as
Atacama, Chile. Satellite photos show there are no other structures
similar to this in this and surrounding areas.
> I've modeled hypersonic reentries for many bolides (including Park
> Forest and the western Washington bolide) as well as Columbia Space
> Shuttle debris.
Can we both agree that this was a hypersonic event with current
velocity unknown?
> Are you sure that seismic stations recorded the *impact*?
> These were the so called "waveforms".
> There is absolutely NO WAY a meteoroid with cosmic velocity hit
> the earth in Peru without the entire world knowing about it
> Seems to me a more likely explanation for a daytime columnar
> cloud is just a dust-devil
> I'm not saying all three pieces of "evidence" are unrelated; I'm
> saying that all THREE cannot be due to the fall/impact of a
> meteorite
> In 30 seconds I could tell you just from inspection whether the
> network detected an atmospheric (acoustic) event, or a seismic
> event. You claim you have this data, so why speculate about
> farfetched scenarios?
First you doubt that seismic stations recorded the event and then you
criticize me for the data I sent you. You discredit the witnesses.
You doubt the polvera by saying it was a dust devil, (that's
unscientific). Similar to the people that said the impact site
was a volcano cone and bomb crater. Jeez. You doubt people felt
the tremor. As a matter of fact, you doubted just about everything
and the underlying tone to your messages has been what I feel to
be veiled ridicule. You claim to be a scientist... But don't
claim objectivity.
You discredit the scientists at the Geophysical Institute of Peru.
Not fair and most definitely unscientific. The data I sent you is
what I received from them. I am not a seismologist and have no
method of converting these numbers into a graphical format. I
suppose with a little assistance I could derive something. If I
recall, the scientists at IGP labeled the data "Meteorito Aplao".
I could request additional data, but I wouldn't know what to ask
for...
I'm certain they have charting software. Maybe it would be possible
to request a chart showing all the stations, pre-event, event and
post-event. But I think I'll have a Jack Daniels first.
> Rob, please forget about the analysis and have a few more beers.
> Sorry to have wasted your time.
Randall
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