Alamo Bolide Impact

[bcache 1]

On two occasions while flying on Alaska Air from Portland to Las Vegas I saw what looked like a impact crater. I was try find out if in fact there is such a crater and I came across references to the Alamo Bolide Impact In Nevada. Does anybody have down to earth info coincident to our interests.

Bill C

[Desertsunburn 44]

On two occasions while flying on Alaska Air from Portland to Las Vegas I saw what looked like a impact crater. I was try find out if in fact there is such a crater and I came across references to the Alamo Bolide Impact In Nevada. Does anybody have down to earth info coincident to our interests.

Bill C

Hi Bill,

In one of the Meteorite Men episodes they actually stopped at this location and grabbed some impact rock (Alamo Breccia) and then later had is sliced and polished. UNLV use to offer field trips there.

Sonny Clary did a video of it a few years back..but now the video is marked private on YouTube.

Jim

[peakbager 15]

Yes it is there just west of Alamo nv can't tell from the ground but it is there I stoped by there last oct and picked up some nice samples it is justeast of the area 51 road where I got mine .

[bcache 1]

It's interesting that there is not much interest in the Alamo Bolide Impact. I'm going to make a determined effort to visit the site for the simple idea that little seems to be known about the impact...unless I find out that the place highly toxic, radioactive, nest of RockCops.etc..

In astronomy The word bolide comes from the Greek βολίς (bolis) which can mean a missile or to flash. The IAU has no official definition of "bolide", and generally considers the term synonymous with "fireball". The bolide term is generally used for fireballs reaching magnitude -14 or brighter.^[9] Astronomers tend to use the term to mean an exceptionally bright fireball, particularly one that explodes (sometimes called a detonating fireball).

In geology Geologists use the term "bolide" more often than astronomers do: in geology it indicates a very large impactor. For example, the USGS uses the term to mean a generic large crater-forming projectile "to imply that we do not know the precise nature of the impacting body ... whether it is a rocky or metallic asteroid, or an icy comet, for example".^[10]

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