Tunguska event

From SkepticWiki

[edit] Definition

The Tunguska event refers to an incident that took place in the remote Tunguska River region of Siberia, at approximately 7:17 AM on 30 June 1908. A large explosion occurred, levelling millions of trees over a radius of up to 30 kilometers. The explosion has been variously attributed to causes varying from a meteor strike to a UFO crash to a nuclear explosion.

[edit] Discussion

Based on the pattern of destruction in the Tunguska River region, combined with forensic demolition models and the lack of definite meteor-impact fragments, the current consensus is that the Tunguska Event was caused by a small asteroid around 60 m in diameter that entered the Earth's atmosphere, was heated due to compression of the air before it and broke apart at an altitude of several kilometres.