Another undetected fireball asteroid collides with Earth

Yet another asteroid crashed into Earth as a fireball and no one saw it coming until the explosion.

Many Russian cities witnessed a light show last week when an asteroid came hurtling towards Earth and burst into a fireball over the landscape. However, no one noticed its arrival.

NASA discovered that speeding at over 32,000mph, the asteroid exploded with 2.8 kilotons of force on June 21 over several Russian cities including Lipetsk. Though initially missed by NASA, it was spotted by sensors made for catching nuclear explosions after the asteroid came into Earth’s atmosphere, reported Daily Mail.

Watch a ‘fireball’ asteroid racing towards Earth

The video, captured by a motorist’s dashcam, showed the powerful fireball asteroid explosion in the skies. The explosion caused such a bright flash that it was even visible clearly in broad daylight. A trail of smoke can be seen in the video left by the fireball asteroid.

Video Courtesy: Exoss Citizen Science

International Asteroid Organization reported, “The event has been reported by witnesses from the cities of Kursk, Lipetsk, Voronzeh and Orel. Many of them reported a loud sonic boom.”

Planetary Defense Officer of NASA, Lindley Johnson explained that most of the times, such small asteroids go undetected because of the sunlight that makes them difficult to see.

However, it is not yet known if any of the fragments reached Earth’s surface, but the intense explosion caused by the air friction most probably disintegrated most of the asteroid debris before hitting Earth, wrote Science Alert. Also, luckily, this impact wasn’t a huge one and caused no potential damage to Earth or anyone.