Russian Army units found three meteorite debris impact

sites, two of which are in an area near Chebarkul Lake, west of Chelyabinsk. Police said an eight-meter wide crater had been discovered near the Chelyabinsk lake. The third site was found some 80 km further to the northwest, near the town of Zlatoust. The meteor released several kilotons of energy above the region, the Russian science academy said. According to NASA, it was about 15 meters (49 feet) wide before it hit the atmosphere, about one-quarter the size of the passing asteroid. The European Space Agency (ESA) said there was no link between the meteorite and the 2012 DA14 asteroid which is due to pass close by the Earth later on Friday. NASA also said there was no connection because the asteriod and the "Russian meteorite" are on "very different paths." Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, speaking at an economic forum going on in Siberia's Krasnoyarsk region, called the meteorite "a symbol of the forum." "I hope that there will be no serious consequences, but it is a demonstration that it is not only the economy that is vulnerable, but our planet as well," he said.