The Russian city of Chelyabinsk was blasted into the limelight on 15 February when extra-terrestrial material landed nearby injuring over 1,200 people. Locals used mobile phones and other devices to record fireballs travelling through the sky and captured the effects of the accompanying shockwaves, which caused windows to shatter, injuring many.
There has been some discussion among the scientific community about whether the falling rocks were a meteorite or fragments of meteoric debris caused by the explosion of a meteorite when it entered the earth’s atmosphere.
Lake Chebarkul has become a focus for scientific research groups and souvenir hunters alike. Attempts to find a large piece of fallen material which is believed responsible for an ice-hole eight metres in diameter met with failure but many other fragments have been found and have proved a lucrative resource for traders and locals.
