Perhaps the most exciting claim for this event was given in the January New Yorker article by Tim Ferris, who wrote: "Just last fall, on November 22, 1996, a meteor hit near San Luis, in western Honduras, excavating a crater a hundred and sixty-five feet wide and setting fire to acres of coffee plants. It missed taking out downtown Bankok or Manila by about 10 hours." Several groups have visited Honduras since then to investigate this fireball. None of them has found any crater, or burned area, or (so far) any recovered meteorites. Apparently this was simply a very bright fireball. It does not seem to have any relevance to issue of NEOs or the impact hazard, and unless surprising new information becomes available, it will not be discussed further in NEO News. David Morrison |
