Meteorite Believed Cause Of Explosion

A watery explosion seen by a farmer and the giant crater left behind in a swampy area next to a lake probably was caused by a meteorite, police said Sunday.

The farmer said he heard a muffled bang and saw mud and water blown 500 feet into the air in this town southwest of Munich on Saturday, said police spokesman Max Enzbrunner. A police helicopter spotted the 65-foot-wide crater blasted into a bog.

It appeared to be caused by a meteorite the size of a soccer ball, he said.

Authorities, initially suspecting a chunk of material from a space mission, tested for radioactivity but found none, Enzbrunner said. They doubted the blast was caused by a World War II bomb, since none was known to have been dropped in that area.