Mindblowing Meteor Explosion Missed By NASA Was Detected By The US Air Force – Impact Would Have Been Devastating

NASA just reported that the US Air Force recorded an enormous meteor explosion back in December 2018. By the look of things, a giant space rock has exploded in the Earth’s atmosphere.

This blast was noted to be the second-largest one that has been registered in 30 years. This is the most significant such explosion that has been registered since the Chelyabinsk event in 2013.

It also seems that the massive meteor was unnoticed until it blasted when hit the Earth’s atmosphere over the Bering Sea, near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.

This meteor explosion was ten times more potent in comparison to the atomic bomb that’s been dropped over Hiroshima. This means that in case of an impact, it could have wiped out a considerable region of the planet.

The planetary defense officer at NASA, Lindley Johnson, reported during an interview with BBC News, that such a massive meteor explosion should only take place two or three times in 100 years.

Huge explosion in 2018, missed by NASA

Back on December 18^th, when it was noon in Russia, a giant meteor hit the atmosphere with 32km/s on a steep trajectory of seven degrees, according to BBC. The meteor exploded at 25.6km above the Bering Sea with an energy of 173 kilotons.

“That was 40% the energy release of Chelyabinsk, but it was over the Bering Sea, so it didn’t have the same type of effect or show up in the news,” explained Kelly Fast, the leader of the Near-Earth Objects programme at NASA.

It seems that NASA did not record the event, but the US military satellites managed to capture the enormous explosion. The US Air Force revealed this to NASA, and the US space agency began investigating what had happened.

The meteor explosion didn’t produce any damage, fortunately, but what’s pretty scary and worrying is the fact that NASA didn’t have a clue about the event.