Fifty thousand years ago, a meteor slammed into what is now Arizona. The size of the meteor is estimated to have been 50m across and released energy equal to a 10-megaton bomb. Today, the crater is about 550 feet deep and 2.5 miles in circumference.
We visited the impact site, called Meteor Crater, scientifically known as Barringer Crater and located southwest of Winslow. It is considered to be the finest preserved impact site in the world, most others having been eroded by time and weather. The crater is on privately-owned land. There are observation points along the northern end where there is also an interesting museum. Holsinger Meteorite, the largest discovered fragment of the meteor and weighing half a ton, is on display.
Though not the largest crater on Earth by far, it was humbling to survey the result of the impact. What animal life existed at the time, dominated by large mammals, was obviously obliterated. It is thought that no humans lived in the area concurrently.
The Apollo astronauts who landed on the moon trained here. There is a scaled model of an astronaut holding the flag in the center of the crater.
zoomeboshi 
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