No final da tarde do dia 19 de junho de 2010, por volta das 17:30, uma série de acontecimentos iria mudar a rotina de uma pequena cidade fluminense localizada na divisa norte entre o estado do Rio de Janeiro e Espírito Santo. A pequena cidade de Varre-Sai iria se tornar conhecida em todo país como a "Cidade do Meteorito". O último evento desse tipo com uma queda confirmada de meteorito no país ocorreu há 19 anos na cidade de Campos Sales/CE.
Um bólibo ou meteoro que, de acordo com algumas testemunhas, viajava no sentido Norte-Sul pode ser visto em diversos estados do Brasil como Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais e Rio de Janeiro. Na região de Linhares/ES esse objeto pode ser filmado.
In the dust of June, 19th, 2010, around 17:30 PM, a series of events would change the routine life of a small city within the Rio de Janeiro state of Brazil, located near the border of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo states.
The small city of Varre-Sai would become known as the Meteorite City all over the country. The last event of this kind in Brazil happened around 19 years ago in Campos Sale city in Ceará state.
A bolibe or meteor that, according to some witnesses, was traveling from North to South could be seen from different states in Brazil such as Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. In the city of Linhares, Espirito Santo state, a video recorded the event.
O brilho do objeto em queda chegou a atingir magnitude -12, parecido com o brilho da lua cheia. Corpos de bombeiros de cidades próximas foram contatados por inúmeras testemunhas que ficaram assustadas com o fenômeno e achando que algum avião pudesse ter caído na região.
O local onde foi encontrado o primeiro fragmento fica praticamente na divisa do estado do Rio de Janeiro e Espírito Santo, num distrito da cidade de Varre-Sai, chamada Santa Rita do Prata. A cidade vizinha a Varre-Sai já no estado do Espírito Santo se chama Guaçui do outro lado do pequeno rio Itabapoana como pode ser visto no mapa abaixo.
The object brightness reached magnitude -12, that is similar to the brightness of the full moon. Many cities fire department were contacted by scared people, some of whom stated that an aircraft may have crashed.
The region where the first fragment was located is practically on the border of both Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo states. The nearest location is a small village called Santa Rita do Prata that is on the outskirts of Varre-Sai city. The neighbor city is in the Espirito Santo state just on the other side of the small Itabapoana river as can be seen on the map bellow.
Por coincidência, no mesmo instante em que o bólibo fazia sua viagem final na atmosfera terrestre de encontro ao solo, um morador do distrito de Santa Rita do Prata, chamado Germano Oliveira, estava trabalhando na propriedade que toma conta quando avistou uma estranha fumaça avermelhada no céu em formato de redemoinho ouvindo em seguida uma série de explosões que puderam ser sentidas na forma de tremor no solo. Alguns minutos após as detonações ele pode ouvir alguns zumbidos originados pelo material cortando o ar e caindo ao solo. Esse efeito também pode ser presenciado por um rapaz chamado Rogério que estava junto ao Sr. Germano no momento da queda. Infelizmente a direção de onde vinha o bólibo não foi notada.
O Sr. Germano ficou com muito receito do que acabara de ocorrer e sem saber o que tinha acontecido se retirou para sua casa imaginando se tratar de algum acidente aéreo. Foi somente no dia seguinte que tomou coragem para tentar encontrar o que provavelmente tinha caído próximo a sua residência. Um fragmento de cerca de 600g e 12 cm de comprimento foi encontrado próximo a uma bananeira a uns 30 metros de onde ele estava na noite anterior. Sem saber do que se tratava, a pedra foi levada a uma escola próxima a sua residência onde uma professora de geografia, Filomena Ridolphi, suspeitou que a "pedra" pudesse ser um meteorito. Pesquisadores foram contatados e visitaram o local comprovando que realmente meteoritos foram originados do bolibo avistado no dia anterior.
A seguinte foto mostra o Sr. Germano e o seu meteorito.
By coincidence, at the same instant that the fireball made its final journey into Earth's atmosphere heading to the ground, a resident of the district of Santa Rita do Prata, named Germano Oliveira, was working on the property that he takes care of when he spotted a strange red smoke in sky over his head with a shape of a whirlpool and then heard a series of explosions that could be felt in the form of ground shaking. A few minutes after the explosions he heard some buzz generated by the material passing through the air and falling into ground. This phenomenon was also witnessed by a boy called Rogério who was with Mr. Germano at the time of the fall. Unfortunately the direction from whence came the fireball was not noticed by them.
Mr. Germano was very afraid of what had just happened and without knowing what had happened he went to his home wondering if it was an airplane crash. It was only in the next day that he took courage to try finding what probably may have fallen nearby his house. A fragment of about 600g was found near a banana tree about 90 feet from where he was standing the night before. Without knowing what it was, he took the stone to a school near his home where a geography teacher, Filomena Ridolphi, suspected that the "stone" could be a meteorite. Researchers were contacted and visited the site confirming that meteorites actually arose from the fireball sighted the previous day.
The following picture shows Mr. Germano and his meteorite.
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O Museu Nacional levou o meteorito do Sr. Germano removendo cerca de 50g para análise. Uma tentativa de compra por parte desse museu foi recusada pelo Sr. Germano. A prefeitura da cidade de Varre-Sai pediu preferência na compra do meteorito pois a mesma teria interesse em colocar a pedra no museu da cidade a fim de explorar o turismo e divulgar a cidade. Após meses de negociação entre a prefeitura e o Sr. Germano, finalmente a pedra foi comprada pela prefeitura pelo valor de 16 mil reais e deverá estar disponível a quem quiser conhecer o meteorito e sua história no museu da cidade.
O próximo fragmento do meteorito foi encontrado por um lavrador chamado Deocleciano Gomes da Silva em uma plantação de café muito próxima ao local do primeiro achado. Esse fragmento foi vendido por pouco mais de USD 100,00 e uma jaqueta de couro a um espanhol que foi a regiao a caça do meteorito. Uma denúncia foi feita e o mesmo foi preso ao tentar sair do país com o meteorito. No Brasil não há legislação sobre coleta e comércio de meteoritos e a alegação da policia federal de que uma autorização deveria ter sido requisitada junto ao DNPM foi a causa da prisão.
O terceiro fragmento encontrado com cerca de 300g foi encontrado agora no estado do Espirito Santo, já na cidade de Guaçui, pelo Sr. Antônio. Uma amostra foi removida por uma universidade desse estado. Esse fragmento foi adquirido posteriormente pelo Museu Nacional.
A história desse meteorito foi amplamente divulgada pela imprensa nacional em vários canais de TV e jornais importantes. Vários extrangeiros vieram tentar encontrar novos fragmentos. Além do espanhol, o caçador de meteoritos americano McCartney Taylor veio ao pais atraído por esse meteorito. Eu e esse americano fizemos um trabalho de busca na região por cerca de 5 dias. Infelizmente não conseguimos encontrar nenhum fragmento nesse período devido a baixa densidade da queda e as péssimas condições do terreno. Assista a entrevista que o mesmo deu a rede Record no programa Domingo Espetacular.
Novos fragmentos que eventualmente possam ser descobertos estão sendo disputados entre vários museus e pesquisadores do pais por um alto preço.
The Museu Nacional (National Museum) took the meteorite of Mr. Germano removing about 50 grams for analysis. An attempt of the museum to purchase the meteorite was rejected by Mr. Germano. The city hall of Varre-Sai asked preference to purchase the meteorite because it would have an interest in placing the stone in the city museum to explore the tourism and to promote the city. After months of negotiation between the city and Mr. Germano, the stone was finally purchased by the city for the value of 10 thousand dollars and should be available to anyone wanting to know the meteorite and its history in the city museum.
The next meteorite fragment was found by a plowman called Deocleciano Gomes da Silva in a coffe plantation nearby Germano´s house. This fragment was sold for around USD 100,00 and a leather jacket to a Spanish that went to the city to hunt the meteorite. A complaint was made against him and he was arrested at the airport while leaving the country with the meteorite. There is no legislation in Brazil concernig meteorite collecting, ownership or commerce. The police claimed he should have asked permission to the Brazilian DPNM (Nation Department of Mineral Production) to leave with the meteorite.
The third found fragment of about 300g was found in the state of Espirito Santo, in the city Guaçuí by Mr. Antônio. A sample was removed by a university of this state. This fragment was subsequently acquired by the National Museum.
The history of this meteorite has been widely publicized by the national press on various TV channels and major newspapers. Many foreigners came to try to find new fragments. Besides a Spanish guy, the meteorite hunter McCartney Taylor came to Brazil attracted by this meteorite. This American guy and I did a search in the area for about 5 days. Unfortunatelly we couldn't find any fragment due to the low density fall and bad terrain condition. Watch the interview that he gave the Rede Record program Domingo Espetacular.
New fragments which might be discovered by local people will disputed among Brazilian museuns and researchers at a high price.
Fotos do meteorito:
Jornal Rede Globo/RJ
Rede Record - Programa Domingo Espetacular
Rede Globo - Jornal Hoje
Globo News
Jornais
Jornal local - julho 2010
Local newspaper - july, 2010
“ET” is found in Varre-Sai and moves the town
The town of Varre-Sai is helping to unveil the mysteries of the planetary formation in the Solar System. On Saturday (19/06), the retired farmer, Mr. Germano da Silva Oliveira, saw a fireball passing through the sky, heard a huge explosion that shook the floor and soon after heard the noise of something strange falling. First, he was afraid and scared but, in the next day, he decided to come back to the same place to discover what had fallen from the sky.Surprisingly, he found a black stone, with a length of 12 cm and with a weight of 580 g. The retired farmer spent all day trying to discover what was it, even thinking it was an airplane piece.
On Monday (21/06), he decided to take the stone to the nearest school, the Escola Municipal Elídio Valentim de Moraes (Municipal School Elídio Valentim de Moraes), in the Santa Rita do Prata district. There, he decided to show it to the teachers and students, trying to identify what was the strange “stone”.Maybe by luck, the teacher Filomena Ridolphi had subscribed, since some years, in the OBA - Olimpíadas Brasileiras de Astronomia (Brazilian Astronomic Olympics), and helped the farmer to identify the odd stone.
The school principal, Maria do Carmo, resolved to communicate the town hall, that, soon after, contacted the press office about the unusual events in the town.
First, the Rede Globo de Televisão (a nation television channel) and the physicist Marcelo de Souza, from UENF – Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense (State University of Fluminense North) and from the Clube de Astronomia Louis Cruls (Astronomy Club Louis Cruls), of the Campos dos Goytacazes city, were contacted. The physicist detected, after a quick analysis, that the stone was probably a piece of asteroid that had fallen in Mr. Germano’s small property.
Many specialists and researchers from Brazil visited Varre-Sai to see and verify the notorious “stone”. The town became famous all around the country, becoming news in all the main channels and newspapers.
The specialist, Professor Maria Elisabeth Zucolotto, who represents the Museu Nacioal (National Museum) and the UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), was also in Varre-Sai where she got, with the town hall help, the authorization to study the stone. To her: “It’s very important this fact that happened in Varre-Sai. All that comes from out the Earth is extraterrestrial [, an ET,] and helps us to understand the planetary formation in the Solar System. We are analyzing the material found by Mr. Germano, but it’s confirmed that the stone that have fallen in Varre-sai it’s really a meteorite.”
According to the astronomer Marcelo de Souza: “It’s important that, in this moment, the population joins in a search for new meteorites. Probably there is a bigger one, weight about 20 kg, buried somewhere in the town. It’s also important to remember that each gram of this meteorite may cost 30 dollars.”
The city hall of Varre-sai, to incentive the search for new meteorites, is rewarding the students and the population that found new meteorites. If you find a meteorite, contact the Varre-Sai’s hall in the phone number: (22) 3843-3213.
Jornal da região - Agosto 2010
2010, August newspaper:
"The small city of Varre-Sai continues to remain in the media focus. The notice of a great meteorite – of approximately 20kg – that may still be found in the soil of the city has attracted many professional meteorite hunters.
Many TV and newspaper teams have congregated to the city to investigate and report the case to all of Brazil. Among the TV teams that visited the city were: Rede Globo, Rede Bandeirantes, TV Brasil, O Dia journal, Folha de São Paulo, O Estadao journal, O Globo Journal, G1, CBN, Rede Tribuna, Rede Gazeta... Varre-Sai was worldwide news.
Mr Germano Oliveira comments about his meteoric fame: “I am 62 years old and would never imagine that I would become so famous. It was until now, fame without pay, but it was worthwile”.
Americans, Spaniards and Bolivians are only some of the nationalities of people interested in meteorites. They know very well the value of this kind of material, for research or as a collectible item.
Each gram of the meteorite found in Varre-Sai can fetch up to 30 dollars. If someone finds the supposed 20kg Stone, it could be worth R$ 1.000.000,00 (one million reais).
Mr. Germano received many offers to purchase his meteorite and says: “Many proposals are very interesting, but I would prefer that this stone remain in Varre-Sai. I know it will help to educate the children in the schools.” The City Hall Mayor said that the government will not participate in an auction to acquire the stone and did not make any definitive statement about acquiring the material."
Jornal da região - Agosto 2010
2010, August newspaper continuation:
"Mr. Germano Oliveira witnessed in July, 19 an strange explosion in the sky. In the following day he checked what seems to have fallen nearby him. He tought it was an aircraft piece. Wondering what the strange material could be he took the stone to the nearby school. The Elídio Valentim de Moraes Municipal school in the hope that any teacher could give him any information. The geography teacher Filomena Ridolphi is subscribed on the OAB (Brasilian Astronomy Olimpic Game), and this helped the meteorite identification. The school direction contacted the City Hall, which sent the press department to study the case. Since this the history of Mr. Germano got much highlights."
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