Rogue Asteroid that Could ‘Destroy City’ Entered Earth’s Atmosphere and Just Missed Planet
Recently there was yet another scary rogue asteroid near miss. The object actually entered our atmosphere missing us by a mere few hundred miles (not thousands or million) and lit up the sky over a huge area (5 states) and sent shock waves leading residents to believe the shaking was the result of some natural event like an earthquake or volcanic eruption. I’m guessing this one wasn’t on the 6 o’clock news right? Of course right, why would it be. These increasing events are seemingly just what they are trying to hide from us all. How many of these close calls have we had this year so far, too many for comfort I would say. Earlier in the year in January we had a meteor hit in the Atlantic and information was only released after the fact.
Luckily the rock burned up in our atmosphere but not before putting on a spectacular light and sound show complete with shockwave that heightened fears of threats from unknown asteroids to our planet.
The phenomenon was recorded over the centre of Mexico where it was studied by astronomer Jose Ramon Valdes, the coordinator of the National Institute for Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE).
A press conference was launched in the wake of the unexpected near miss.
Mr Valdes explained that the fireball was considered by many to be a meteorite, but because it did not impact the planet, but rather passed through the Earth’s atmosphere, it was technically still part of an ancient asteroid.
NASA and other space agencies have only managed to track a tiny fraction of the asteroids that pose a danger to our planet.
Smaller sized asteroids, which can still devastate huge areas if they struck are the hardest to identify, meaning a sudden and unexpected impact is a real possibility.
Mr Valdes said: “The trajectory of big asteroids can be seen and monitored, the problem is the small ones that we cannot see.
“These objects are remnants of the formation of the solar system of our planet. A big one could totally demolish a city.
“There are many, but few reach the ground, however we must be prepared for a big one, because they are fatal and would finish a city and are what we are monitoring.”
In this case, it was the rock’s interaction with our atmosphere that caused the shockwave from the asteroid that people in Mexico heard and felt.
The distance of around 620 miles sounds far, but in terms of a space rock it is as close a shave as possible.
NASA monitors so-called near Earth asteroids passing us as far away as 11million miles due to concern over the accuracy of calculated orbital paths.
The fireball was recorded by the platform SkyAlert, which alerts about natural phenomena, in the early hours of the morning.
The platform tweeted at 01.47 saying: “A White light was seen and an explosion heard. It is very probable that the explosion was due to a meteorite entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
