Published: 26 October, 2009, 23:18
Edited: 1 November, 2009, 08:34
A mysterious UFO that allegedly fell over Latvia on Sunday has turned out to be a fake. A local mobile operator has confessed to being involved in staging a hoax with the meteorite.
“The Mazsalaca meteorite was the initiative of Tele2,” Jðnis Sprogis, the company’s marketing director, said during a news conference on Monday. The aim of the hoax, he said, was to make the Latvian population believe in themselves and discover that just one unique and interesting story is enough to make Latvia the centre of attention both in the region and the world.
However, Sprogis promised to compensate the state for its losses, which reportedly amount to $4,000.
The country’s Interior Minister, Linda Murniece, called the incident a mockery that took advantage of the public and special services. She said she believes those guilty of staging such “nasty jokes” must be punished, and estimated the public cost of the hoax at around $26,000.
The minister added that no criminal case into the accident will be launched.
The unidentified object ostensibly fell on a farm field near the northwest Latvian town of Mazsalaca. The incident drew huge public and media attention. Scientists, sensation seekers and special forces were working hard to explain what caused a mysterious crater measuring 20 meters wide and 5 meters deep that appeared in the area.
A local resident filmed what he called the consequences of a powerful blast. This video later became one of the most popular on the Internet.
Fire fighters and police worked at the scene, where the crater was first believed to be the result of a meteor strike.
Later the owner of the property reportedly started taking money from people who wanted to see the object up close – $2 for the ticket.
Some experts, however, did view the incident with skepticism and quickly labeled it a publicity stunt. They claimed the hole was dug with spades and aluminum powder was placed at the crater's base.
For almost twenty four hours the world was hypnotized by the story that seemed to fall out of the sky. Meanwhile, as one of Moscow's top scientists suggests, the idea of a meteorite hitting Earth isn't as far fetched as you might believe.