Truth Sieve

An amateur astronomer detected an unusual impact crater on Jupiter on July 19, 2009.  NASA “confirmed” the impact.  NASA speculates that the impact was caused by a “large block of ice” or a “wandering comet to feint to see” in Jupiter’s neighborhood.  Jupiter certainly does get hit by comets (Shoemaker-Levy 9, for example), but it is not the only possible explanation for the “crater” shown below.

JPL Image Showing "Impact" with Jupiter

The claim that the crater is the result of an impact of a large block of ice or from an unseen, wandering comet is cover for a terrible accident that happened.  Jupiter’s atmosphere contains many valuable gases valuable for spacefaring civilizations  such as hydrogen and helium.  A gas mining station deep in the Jovian atmosphere suffered a catastrophic failure and exploded leaving a spot with the appearance of an impact point.  Many lives, of course, were lost in the accident.  Mining, whether underground on Earth or in the atmosphere of a distant planet, is a dangerous occupation.