Article updated: 2/15/2013 5:58 PM

Russian meteor nothing like prehistoric Des Plaines meteor

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A meteor struck the suburbs millions of years ago near Big Bend Lake in Des Plaines. Time has erased signs of the huge crater from the earth's surface, but the event remains recorded in the rocks below.

JOE LEWNARD | Staff Photographer

A meteor struck the suburbs millions of years ago near Big Bend Lake in Des Plaines. Time has erased signs of the huge crater from the earth's surface, but the event remains recorded in the rocks below.

JOE LEWNARD | Staff Photographer

About this Article

As Russians try to learn more about the meteor that showered a border region with fiery rock on Friday, local residents may be surprised to know that the suburbs have experienced their share of astronomical trauma — in the form of a meteor that left a 5-mile-wide crater and likely wiped out all life for miles around.

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