[meteorite-list] Mystery Trench In Wales Caused By Meteorite Fall?

> > http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/regionalnews/page.cfm?objectid=11563093&method=full
> >
> >
> > Experts called to investigate Snowdonia's space riddle
> > By Gareth Hughes
> > Daily Post (United Kingdom)
> > January 24, 2002
> >
> > A 20 METRE-LONG trench has mysteriously appeared on a remote North Wales
> > mountainside - arousing the interest of some of Britain's leading
> > astronomers.
> >
> > The gash, about 2,500ft high, between Moel Eilio and Snowdon, starts amid a
> > cluster of smashed rocks, ending in boggy ground close to a fence.
> >
> > Astronomers were last night investigating the possibility the gouge mark
> > could have been caused by a meteor smashing into the earth.
> >
> > Another less likely theory is that it may have been caused by a lightning
> > strike.
> >
> > One expert told the Daily Post yesterday: "It is all fascinating stuff, and
> > if it is eventually found to have been caused by a meteor it will be
> > virtually unique in Wales."
> >
> > Local walkers and fell-runners first noticed some disturbance, but it was
> > not until Caernarfon builder, Mike Blake, a member of the Eryri Harriers
> > club, examined it in more detail that the interest of leading authorities
> > was aroused.
> >
> > Mike, a keen amateur photographer, visited the site and took photographs. He
> > has sent them to the Natural History Museum and Jodrell Bank Observatory in
> > Cheshire.
> >
> > "It's clear that some natural occurrence has taken place, but what exactly
> > it was, I just don't know," he said.
> >
> > " It appears that a rocky outcrop was hit and shattered, as there are
> > fragments over a wide area. Leading away from it is a large gouge mark about
> > 20 metres long, which ends in the boggy ground."
> >
> > Mike tried to clear a drainage ditch to see what lay at the bottom of the
> > trench, but it merely filled up again.
> >
> > "I am desperately anxious to know what caused it, but one thing is clear,
> > and that is that it was not caused by any vehicle," he said.
> >
> > He and others are adamant the damage had not occurred in October when the
> > British Mountain Relays were held in the area.
> >
> > This week Mike has been in touch with the Armagh Observatory in Northern
> > Ireland, whose director, Professor Mark Bailey, said he was intrigued by
> > Mike's detailed description.
> >
> > "There does appear to have been a violent impact with the mountainside," he
> > said.
> >
> > One puzzling feature, he said, was the long trench, as that would indicate
> > an object having hit the ground at a shallow angle, while a
> > meteorite would be expected to approach earth much more directly.
> >
> > "It would be wonderful if it were a meteorite because we don't get many of
> > them in this part of the world, but something about this does not ring true.
> > If it were a meteorite, it would almost certainly have been clearly
> > visible," said Professor Bailey.
> >
> > "It is, nonetheless, fascinating, and I shall be trying to follow this up."
> >
> > His concerns about the angle of trajectory and the trench were shared by Jay
> > Tait, director of the Knighton Observatory in Powys.
> >
> > "It is well worth further investigation, and I shall be following this with
> > great interest. If it were a meteorite, it would be virtually unique in
> > Wales, the last one in England having been in the 1960s," he said.
> >
> > Tom Muxlow, an astronomer at Jodrell Bank Observatory, added: "It could
> > conceivably be a meteorite but one would expect some debris, and that
> > requires further investigation and geological analysis."
> >
> >
> >
> >           
>