Check out these 5 Earth hitting and near missing asteroids.
Amidst the buzz surrounding a nerve-wrecking encounter with an asteroid, here are 5 asteroids that have hit or come terrifying close to striking Earth.
Number 5 – In 1908, a small asteroid exploded above Siberia, knocking down miles worth of trees. Amazingly, no humans were reportedly injured. According to NASA, “It is estimated the asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere traveling at a speed of about 33,500 miles per hour. During its quick plunge, the 220-million-pound space rock heated the air surrounding it to 44,500 degrees Fahrenheit”.
Number 4 – In 1937, Asteroid Hermes missed hitting Earth by only hundreds of thousands of miles. It was predicted that if it had hit our planet, it would have caused mass destruction and deaths of millions of people.
Number 3 – Let’s go back 65 million years. A giant asteroid, estimated to be nearly 6.2 miles across hit the Earth off the coast of the Yucatan peninsula. Scientists believe the massive impact along with global climate changes from the dust clouds lead to the dinosaurs’ extinction, although this is continuously debated.
Number 2- Fast forward to 2012. An asteroid the size of a public transit bus came very close to hitting our home planet, coming less than 40,000 miles or about five times closer to Earth than the moon.
Number 1 – In 1490, an asteroid disintegrated overhead killing a reported 10,000 people in China. Records note that witnesses saw falling rocks the size of ‘goose eggs’ rapidly descending and striking villagers.
