Vitim event
The
Vitim event or
Bodaybo event is believed to be an impact by a
bolide or
comet nucleus in the
Vitim River basin. It occurred near the town of
Bodaybo in the Mamsko-Chuisky district of
Irkutsk Oblast,
Siberia,
Russia on
September 25,
2002 at approximately 10 p.m. (local time). The event was also detected by a
U.S. anti-missile defense military satellite.
Some attempts were made to define the
magnitude of the explosion. US military analysts calculated it was between 0.2 - 0.5
kilotons, while Russian physicist Andrey Olkhovatov estimates it at 4 - 5 kilotons.
Information about the event appeared in the mass media and among scientists after only a week. Initially no one was able to understand the magnitude of the explosion. A small expedition, sent by the Institute of Sun-Earth Physics (
Irkutsk), tried to find a 'meteorite' within about 10 km from Bodaybo town (people told them — 'it has fallen after the nearest mountain!'). At first scientists tried to find only a meteorite, without analyzing any other ideas about the nature of the event, and they tried to prevent the information about it from appearing in mass-media.
The consequences of the Vitim event were strange for a normal meteorite fall. There were northern lights, increased radioactivity, and a mysterious
Antonov An-2 plane crash deep in the
taiga. There was also an increase of unknown diseases in the Mamsko-Chuyski region near the Vitim River.
Some people suggest that this phenomenon is similar to the
Tunguska event of
1908.
* 1st - Russian MChS (Emergency Rescue) team tried to find an object near Bodaybo
* 2nd - October,
2002 expedition of
Irkutsk University (leader S. Yazev).
Official expeditions in
2002-
2003 never reached the impact site, situated in a remote
Siberian taiga.
As reported by Kosmopoisk, in May
2003 an expedition, performed by
Kosmopoisk (leader — V.
Chernobrov) reached the presumed impact point (about 50 km from Vitimsky settle point). The situation there looked similar to that of the Tunguska river after the
Tunguska event in
1908. Snow and water samples were analyzed and found to contain an abnormal amount of
tritium, as well as
radioactive isotopes of
cobalt and
caesium.
Summing up all the information V.A.
Chernobrov suggested, that the
Vitim event could be caused by a falling of a
comet nucleus with a diameter about 50-100 meters.
*
Meteorites Australia (Meteorites.com.au) The Vitim bolide (latest update 26th March 2006)
*
Cambridge Conference Network bulletins concerning the Vitim event*
BBC online article*
Times online article*
Cambridge Conference Network archive concerning the event*Kasatkina, E.A. & Shumilov, O.I. (2005).
Some atmospheric and magnetospheric effects possibly related to the Vitim bolide impact. Retrieved June 24, 2005.
*Chernobrov, Vadim & Soleny, Alexander & Lawrence, Maria (2003).
Results from the VITIM-2003 expedition
