MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) – The meteorite that hit Russia’s Urals Mountains in mid-February contained “scriptures” that can usher in a new age on Earth, say followers of a new religious group in Russia, local media reported Monday.
But mishandling the meteorite could cause harm throughout the world and may already be fueling the bloody civil strife in Syria, said Andrei Breivichko, founder of the Church of the Chelyabinsk Meteorite, 1obl.ru news website reported.
The meteorite, estimated at 10,000 metric tons, exploded over the Chelyabinsk Region earlier this year, leaving 1,500 injured, mostly due to glass shattered by the shockwave. The biggest of seven major chunks that the celestial body fragmented into ended up in the local Chebarkul Lake, and an operation to fish it out is currently under way.
Though scientists said earlier that the space rock was a typical chondrite (non-metallic meterorite) distinguished mostly by its size, the space rock actually contains “data about the universe and a code of moral and legal guidelines that would help mankind at a new stage of development of spiritual knowledge,” Breivichko said.
The founder of the cult of the meteorite opposes the operation to bring the chunk out of the lake, claiming that only “psychic priests” of his church are qualified to handle the celestial body, which they want to be placed in a temple to be built in Chelyabinsk for the purpose.
The believers are already holding rites on the shores of Chebarkul, trying to protect the meteorite by projecting a sort of protective psychic energy toward it, though they have no plans to physically interfere with the divers trying to bring it up, online tabloid LifeNews.ru reported.
The tabloid published a video of half a dozen people, led by the church’s founder – identified by LifeNews.ru as Breivichenko – standing in a ring on the lake’s shore, holding hands and praying for the meteorite’s safety.
The Chebarkul fragment of the meteorite, sized 50 by 90 centimeters, is expected to be brought ashore by September 25. It will be examined by scientists and then handed over to the local authorities, Chelyabinsk Governor Mikhail Yurevich said Monday.
