1908 Tunguska Probability

Hello everyone,
My question deals with the Tunguska event in 1908 and I'm not really interested in all the conspiracies of what caused the explosion, but the location. What are the odds that a comet or asteroid would crash/explode over a relatively uninhabited place instead of a more populated area? Was this event somehow manipulated to avoid populated areas by outside forces or was it simply luck? I'm looking forward to thoughts on the subject. Thanks

I would say they are very high considering how large Russia is and how little of it is actually populated. I think that if an event like that happened in a populated area it would be slightly more shocking.

Anyways everyone knows that it was Tesla's Death Ray and not a meteor that caused the explosion.

Not everyone Scalamander!!

The world was less populated in 1908, and as Scalamander states Russia was a huge country (still is but just a bit smaller).

Tunguska was something my grand parents talked about so I hear about this event for as long as I can remember.

I do not think you can dismiss this event to just be a comet or asteroid, and then ask a question just based on that assumption. Your question could just as easily apply to an alien craft as much as a comet/asteroid.

I'm open to alternate explanations of what exploded over Tunguska and I am not concretely labeling it as a comet or asteroid, but what interests me is the "luck" of it exploding over an uninhabited area.

Originally posted by Illyrian
I'm open to alternate explanations of what exploded over Tunguska and I am not concretely labeling it as a comet or asteroid, but what interests me is the "luck" of it exploding over an uninhabited area.

Given that the total population of the planet in 1908 was approximately 1.72 billion people, and that there are about 45 million square miles of total unsubmerged land, that gives an average population density of 39 people per square mile. Now factor in the number of people who live in much more densely populated areas (cities and towns). Frankly, we're lucky the event was even noticed...and the odds were vastly against it happening in a populated area *anywhere* on Earth.

I'd say that, had the Tunguska Event happened over (or even close to) a major population concentration, it would've been either astronomically bad luck (pun intended), or evidence that aliens were, indeed, involved.