Visitors and workers of the museum in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk (Siberia/Russia) were stunned to see an extraordinary scene: the glass dome covering the fragment of the Chelyabinsk meteorite (which fell in January 2013) grew on its own, as though it were an unseen force. The event took place on 14 December 2019.
The CCTV film shows a number of visitors to the museum circling the piece of meteorite in Chelyabinsk, which is on display in the center of the building. At one point, the glass dome that covers the rock of space was raised on its own. Police staff hurried to the scene to close the dome.
Museum spokeswoman Yuri Bogatenkov said the museum experts had no idea what triggered the mysterious incident. The staff has keys to the remote control that lifts this dome, but they both said they didn’t do it.
The director of the museum met with technology experts who said that this dome should not have been installed on its own: “We talked to all our electronics professionals who said unequivocally that it was unlikely for it to be opened on its own. It happened, though. “I asked what it might be, and so far there is no answer,” said Vladimir Bogdanovsky.
The incident raised suspicions among the conspirators that the Chelyabinsk meteorite was attempting to escape. Some fear that someone has tried to snatch the celestial body or test the warning system. That’s why the Russian Ministry of Culture directed the museum to review its security measures.
The Chelyabinsk meteorite struck the city in January 2013, causing major destruction. 3,000 buildings were destroyed and thousands of windows were smashed. Scientists said that if the space rock had not crashed in neighboring Chebark Lake, it would have caused a substantial number of deaths.
Video:
what a weird story, surely smth must have gone wrong with the mechanism. Museum CCTV footage shows protective dome over a fragment of Chelyabinsk meteorite rising apparently 'all by itself'. Museum director & staff insist they or faulty electronics had nothing to do with it pic.twitter.com/opOX1M7jsd
— The Siberian Times (@siberian_times) December 17, 2019
