It Came From Outer Space

A meteorite impact in Peru is reportedly making people sick:

LIMA, Peru — A supposed meteorite that crashed in southern Peru over the weekend has caused hundreds of people to suffer headaches, nausea and respiratory problems, a health official said Tuesday.

Local media have reported eyewitness accounts of a fiery ball falling from the sky and smashing into the desolate Andean plain near the Bolivian border Saturday morning. Officials have said it was a meteorite.

Jorge Lopez, director of the health department in the southern state of Puno, told The Associated Press that 200 people have been sickened by "toxic" fumes emanating from the resulting crater, which is some 66 feet wide and 16 feet deep.

"This is caused by the gas they have inhaled after the crash," Lopez said. He added that some 1,500 people live nearby.

But meteor expert Ursula Marvin, cast doubt on that theory, saying, "It wouldn't be the meteorite itself, but the dust it raises."

I wouldn't rule out group hysteria either.