"LIMA (AFP) - Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.
Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia.
Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a “strange odor,” local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.
Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.
Rescue teams and experts were dispatched to the scene, where the meteorite left a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide) and 20-foot-deep (six-meter-deep) crater, said local official Marco Limache.
“Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned,” he said.""
-Guys in stormtrooper outfits in black helicopters are headed there right now, if gaming is to be believed.
In the grand scheme of things, a million to one chance is actually something I’d be willing to put hard cash on. I’ve got the equivalent of $1.25 right now. How much are you in for?
Hopefully geologists and toxicologists can check out the area and give a full assessment, but the initial report does have some features of mass psychogenic illness. As Houngan noted, this used to be called mass hysteria. Now it’s fallen victim to George Carlin’s rule of more syllables to suggest greater importance (i.e., shell shock -> battle fatigue -> posttraumatic stress disorder)
