Damn. Missed it by *that* much....

[Sweet Meteor]

Tunguska explosion in 1908 caused by asteroid grazing Earth

A new theory explains the mysterious explosion in Siberia, scientists say, suggesting Earth barely escaped a far greater catastrophe.

In the early morning of June 30, 1908, a massive explosion flattened entire forests in a remote region of Eastern Siberia along the Tunguska River. Curiously, the explosion left no crater, creating a mystery that has puzzled scientists ever since — what could have caused such a huge blast without leaving any remnants of itself?

Now Daniil Khrennikov at the Siberian Federal University in Russia and colleagues have published a new model of the incident that may finally resolve the mystery. Khrennikov and co say the explosion was caused by an asteroid that grazed the Earth, entering the atmosphere at a shallow angle and then passing out again into space.

“We argue that the Tunguska event was caused by an iron asteroid body, which passed through the Earth’s atmosphere and continued to the near-solar orbit,” they say. If they are correct, the theory suggests Earth escaped an even larger disaster by a hair’s breadth.

[Copper]

@Sweet-Meteor said in Damn. Missed it by *that* much....:

In the early morning of June 30, 1908, a massive explosion flattened entire forests

How big is an entire forest?

5 acres?

500 acres?

50,000 acres?

[Mik]

In Siberia? I'd reckon pretty sizeable. In this case 830 square miles.

[George K]

@Mik said in Damn. Missed it by *that* much....:

In Siberia? I'd reckon pretty sizeable. In this case 830 square miles.

531,200 acres.

[taiwan_girl]

I dont think this is new news. I remember hearing about this a long time ago. In fact, i read a book probably 10 more years ago that had this information.

I always thought that they knew it was a meteor?

[Copper]

The older you get the newer 1908 becomes.

[LuFins Dad]

They could have seen it coming if they would have built a giant kaleidoscope.