Mark Gilman, age 9, Bronx, N. Y;

How big is Meteor Crater in Arizona?

Near Winslow  Arizona, there is a great. hole in the ground. It happened maybe 4,000 or 5,000 years ago when a huge meteor struck the earth. Time and weather have eroded and smoothed the torn, rocks and boulders. But the round hole is stil1 4,151 feet across and 570 feet deep,

Fragments of meteor metal strewed the ground for a radius of five miles. The giant meteor itself has not been discovered. Its weight has been estimated to be 50,000 tons. The impact of the crash may have dug it deep underground. Some experts believe the great mass of metal was turned to vapor in the heat of the collision.

Others believe the great meteor sank deeper and deeper. through the earths crust. Its material was much heavier than the upper layer of rocks. It may have been pulled by gravity to the very heart of the earth, sinking like a heavy stone through soft mud.