Last September, something strange landed near the rural Peruvian village of Carancas. Two months later, so did Peter Schultz.

One was an extraterrestrial fireball that struck the Earth at 10,000 miles per hour, formed a bubbling crater nearly 50 feet wide and afflicted local villagers and livestock with a mysterious illness. The other is the Brown geologist who may have figured out why.

The fiery mass shot across the morning sky bursting and crackling like fireworks, villagers said after the Sept. 15 impact. An explosive crash tossed nearby locals to the ground, shattered windows one kilometer away and kicked up a massive dust cloud, covering one man from head to toe in a fine white powder. Many thought the streaking fireball - brighter than the sun, by some accounts - was an aerial attack from neighboring Chile.