Monday, September 26, 2011

Meteorite Case Falls Apart - Hoax or Disinformation?

Source: INFOBAE and Martha Núñez
Date: 26 September 2011

Argentina: Meteorite Case Falls Apart – Hoax or Disinformation?

** Authorities detain the man who “saw” the comet and concentrate their investigation on the gas cylinders **

The young man who disseminated a photo of the luminous object that allegedly fell on the community of Esteban Echeverria has been detained for making a false statement. Researchers have now concentrated their investigations on a gas cylinder that was “jury-rigged” to an oven, according to Radio 10.

The causes of the fatal explosion in the community of Esteban Echeverria in early morning hours are becoming clearer. Today at noon, a young man who claimed having seen “a fireball” falling from the sky acknowledged that had been lying. This is the same person who disseminated the image showing an orange object in free-fall.

Authorities in charge of the investigation decided to detain the man for making a false statement and have concentrated their research on the tanks found in one of the homes. Police confiscated a 45 kg cylinder connected in a clandestine manner to a pizza oven. Preliminary investigation suggests that this connection was the source of the leak that caused the tragedy in the province of Buenos Aires.

This conclusion, however, does not account for sightings made by distant onlookers and comments made on INFOBAE that "car ignitions would not start in the wake of the explosion."