Norwegian scientists say they've determined where a meteorite struck ground last week and now researchers are debating its impact.
The meteorite struck the Norwegian county of Nord-Troms in the valley of Reisadalen, Aftenposten reported Monday.
Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard, an astronomer at the University of Oslo, told Aftenposten the meteorite might have had the same impact as the atomic bomb that exploded at Hiroshima in 1945, although the meteorite emitted no radioactivity.
But Truls Lynne Hansen of Norway's Northern Lights Observatory called that an exaggeration.
"Our atmosphere is peppered with small stones from outer space all the time," Hansen told the newspaper, saying he believes the stone that struck northern Norway weighed only approximately 26 pounds.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
