Asteroids Have Struck Earth With The Force Of A Nuclear Bomb 26 Times Since 2000

Well, that is quite a title to open with, isn't it? It's quite a story, too!

Let me start off by saying up front though... It isn't doom porn, but something a little different to add variety to the morning's read for folks today. This has been happening, and continues to happen. Few, if any are killed by it and no doom has befallen us ..so, no need to panic.

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Having said that, a nuclear blast equivilent is no firecracker, and this is no minor thing in overall terms. Lets have a look at a bit more detail and see what this is all about. First, how could we know this? Did people stand outside and count each night? Nawww... Nuclear comparisons aren't accidental or random in this case. It has to do with what detects these.

The impacts were recorded by the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation which operates a global network of sensors listening out for nuclear weapon detonations.

Most occurred too high in the atmosphere to cause any serious damage on the ground. But the evidence is a sobering reminder of how vulnerable the Earth is to the threat from space, say scientists.

None of the asteroids were detected or tracked in advance by any existing space or Earth-based observatory.

Source (Emphasis Added)

So the sensors meant to warn us of nuclear war or detonations in progress somewhere in the world have come to double for spotting the more energetic meteors coming down on us....after they come in and detonate or burn out. I wonder if the men who designed them foresaw that handy secondary use? The source has a great video gallery of past ones to come in, and I'll share a couple here.

The first was above Edmonton, Canada in 2008


This next was Utah in 2009.


Finally, we all remember this one in Chelyabinsk, Russia.


I found something I hadn't seen before about this one as well. Others may well have read about it, but for whatever reason, I had missed it anyway. The Russian one was, to use a pool term, a bank shot off another 'ball' to land right in our pocket!

The latest study, which comes from scientists at the University of Tohoku in Japan, claims that the meteor collided with an asteroid before heading on its collision course with Earth.

Analysis of a mineral called jadeite found embedded in fragments recovered after the explosion show that the parent body of the meteor had collided with a larger asteroid of at least 492 feet wide and at a relative speed of 3,000 mph.

Source

So much for the idea of relying on predictable for what our fragile little rock may be hit with as time goes on. In fact, speaking of uncertainty and a lack of knowledge....there is another aspect from the original article which I should also note.

It's a doozy, so refer back to my opening lines about how this was all happening before you learned of it, and learning didn't make it any more likely to be a personal issue. Still......this isn't comforting.

"While most large asteroids with the potential to destroy an entire country or continent have been detected, less than 10,000 of the more than a million dangerous asteroids with the potential to destroy an entire major metropolitan area have been found by all existing space or terrestrially-operated observatories."

(Same Source as Original Quotes)

As another thought to consider and a final resource to gaze upon in thinking about what all this may mean, I must share this last website.

It's produced and updated regularly by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA. What it shows is "Near Earth Objects".

Now this isn't a space thread, so we're not concerned with what isn't actually coming into the atmosphere.

Still, there is a reason I share this last one.

JPL N.E.O. Tracking and Data Index

Objects like potential meteors and asteroids are named in specific ways. Nothing random about it. The second group within the name varies, and while very deliberate, each can carry quite different meaning. The FIRST number is a constant where you see it and that is the date it was FIRST LOCATED and tracked to identify. Notice on that page...in relation to my last quote above...how many carry dates over recent years?

It's both good and bad. Good, in that we're finding that many to keep our Fragile Earth from taking surprise hits..hopefully. Bad, in that there are THAT MANY which are just sitting out there, close enough to hit on quick for a track with the right equipment.

As the closing concept to leave with...remember the Earth is a very big place and even the size of a major city is only 1 city across an entire planet. Odds of being directly touched by the outcome of one of these is slim at best, unless it's so large that such things would't matter anymore.

In that last case, we'd learn quickly enough just how fragile our fragile little rock really is!

Lets hope not, in our lifetime anyway!

The way the meteor lights the sky up is pretty awesome and terrifying at the same time, I hope a big one does not land in our planet in my lifetime !
I've always been scared of big asteroid impacts, they would be nothing we've ever seen before..
Very nice thread, s&f!

Wrabbit, As I try to read this with only a few sips of coffee under my belt on this Monday morning, I just havta wonder at what time you get up to put up such threads.

I usually follow the near earth asteroid list on space weather not wanting to think about what doom porn risks will befall our little planet today. Lucky for us they break up and burn up when entering our atmosphere. However as your OP indicates, that's a fair number of entries we've had in the last little while. It would be exciting to be able to locate one, wouldn't it?

If you want to help save the world, the BBC in UK are starting a project soon where you can help spot asteroids.
The project is call Asteroid Zoo.
Asteroid Zoo site

After reading your wonderful and insightful thread, I wonder if when these explode in our atmosphere if it affects the weather, jet stream, etc. etc.. Could these be the cause of the formation of some of the bad storms that we have?

a reply to: aboutface

Actually, it's funny you should ask that. I'm usually on the computer doing things here, researching school or other work related things or actually doing school and work related things. In any of those, I'm always coming across interesting stuff, and most I have no time to pursue right then. They get tossed back into a favorites folder just for that sort of thing to write a story about on a slow day.

Well.. This kinda seemed like a slow day for the same 'ol. Why not something different?

That was a good read Wrabbit, but this is what gets me:

originally posted by: Wrabbit2000
the Earth is a very big place and even the size of a major city is only 1 city across an entire planet. Odds of being directly touched by the outcome of one of these is slim at best

What do they base those odds on? Does a center of human population automatically help prevent an asteroid or comet from hitting it? I don't think the trajectory of a comet takes into account what or where it is going to hit.

What I'm trying to get at is these "odds" that people throw around.......they do it to pacify themselves into thinking "It couldn't happen to me". Even though everything you stated in thread points in the opposite direction.

a reply to: Fylgje

I don't know. I'm going to say I'm not sure if the experts really know either, given some of what is being discovered recently and in recent years. Based on a couple of those examples... Who knows?

Space Dust Carries Water and Organic Carbon

Vitamin B3 Might Have Been Made in Space, Delivered to Earth by Meteorites

I'll admit, the titles for the articles look a bit goofy, in speaking to the thread in general, but before judging them by the idea suggested in them? Be sure to check the source and see what it says. It's certainly not a secondary source or even MSM. The 2 articles were both written this year, although the B-3 article mentions evidence had also been found in 2001 at another old impact site.

Who knows what they all have or carry in their material? Especially the ones almost totally destroyed in the air.

a reply to: DeepImpactX

That's certainly a fair question. I put it the way I did for a couple reasons. First, the sheer surface area of Earth and what your individual bad luck would have to be for having a meteor land right on your city, if it was small enough to only damage that size an area, would be remarkable. Of all the cities and empty land and water area ...that's some kind of kosmic karma and really bad luck if it's actually someone else's nearby, eh?

The other reason is that asteroids and comets or meteors can be a subject with overreaction to near hysteria at times (Well, for one cult in California and a comet, it was nothing 'near' at all). So I just try and add the perspective in as well as the stuff for what havoc or mayhem it could cause.

To get fancy with exploring it though, there is the Purdue Impact Simulator and you can see what various sizes do to just what 'limited' damage really means when looking at all the different categories of potential damage an impact carries.

It's only a matter of time before one hits land or water and causes major damage. Just too many out there. Who knows....the conspiracy theorists in me tells me this could be the start of a false flag, lol.

originally posted by: HawkeyeNation
Who knows....the conspiracy theorists in me tells me this could be the start of a false flag, lol.

Funny you said that as not too long ago I was wondering if at some point in time a round-table at some think tank were discussing how a 'governing body' could wipe out their enemies by natural causes. And then of course they're going down a checklist of would-be classified natural disasters to research...

Earthquakes.. [check]
Hurricanes.. [check]
Tornadoes.. [check]
Tsunamis.. [check]
Asteroids..

Damn you, Climate Change.

Joking of course. Great thread Wrabbit! I always enjoy reading your posts.

S&F Wrabbit.
Always enjoy your threads.

Just a thought (that could lead anywhere knowing this crowd lol).

It seems to me that Earth has had a very turbulent time leading up to
the coming of mankind, but since then things have been relatively quiet (food for thought there...).
Too quiet imo.
Looking for a town/city/country/planet killer is like looking for a needle
in a haystack, in a field of haystacks..
But look we must, otherwise we risk being the next dinosaurs...

Cheers.

Thread




Every meteorite eve recorded never mind the ones no one saw...

Now tell me we haven't been lucky in this short time span of human advancement