The Need For A Global Alert System For Celestial Impacts

a reply to: Phage

That's if you beLIEve it was really at 43km.

a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

I see.

The government falsified a report of a meteor that no one saw. Wouldn't it have been easier to not report it at all?

a reply to: Phage

Kind of like the "weather balloons" over Roswell, eh?

a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

Not much.

Just add my 3p worth.

I can understand your thinking in having some early warning system in place to warn people of impending doom.. but understand Asteroids (becoming meteorites) Travel around 30km/s (faster depending on orbit) Most of the time we don't even see these rocks until they either impact or pass us and even if we do see them it's hard to predict it's impact at that sort of speed combined with the fact most of the time we don't know the size. Lots and lots of meteorites hit us daily all across the world.. most go un noticed very few make it to the surface and even fewer explode with the ferocity of a nuclear weapon!

This is simply a numbers game.. the cost of implementing a trustworthy system that has few false alarms combined with how rare the occurrence is globally. What would be much more worthwhile and money better spent is increasing our search for asteroids that pose a threat. While we know pretty much most earth orbiting objects bigger then a basketball, asteroids that head at a perpendicular angle are almost impossible to spot including ones made up of very dark light absorbing material. The key is preventing extinction level events rather then wasting money on early warning systems that on the whole would be dormant pretty much forever.

a reply to: Archivalist
It already exists. That is exactly why these happen All the time, but never quite in a populad area with high density. But some places do get their windows blown even at the high altitudes.

a reply to: Archivalist

What makes me think is the location of the impact- near to a early warning missile system? That's kinda stretching the odds a LOT. Second thing that perks up my eyebrows *is* the lackluster response from the government.

Talk about things that make you go 'hmmmm' for $1000....

a reply to: wylekat

What makes you think there was an impact?

a reply to: Phage
And it detonated at an altitude of 580 meters wereas the meteor in question exploded at an altitude of 43,300 meters.

At 43k meters, wouldn't *someone* in a wide area be able to spot the thing as well, and contact the media? Looking at a map, and doing some rough guesstimating, that thing should have been seen by at least someone in Iceland, Possibly even Newfoundland?

Or have I missed eyewitness accounts somewhere along the line? I'd figure it'd be plastered up here in one for or another hours after it happened...

a reply to: wylekat

Looking at a map, and doing some rough guesstimating, that thing should have been seen by at least someone in Iceland, Possibly even Newfoundland?

Can you show your math?

Or maybe it was cloudy out.


But again, what makes you think there was an impact?

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: wylekat

What makes you think there was an impact?

Well, it impacted the atmosphere and made a nice big bang..

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: wylekat

Looking at a map, and doing some rough guesstimating, that thing should have been seen by at least someone in Iceland, Possibly even Newfoundland?

Can you show your math?

Or maybe it was cloudy out.


But again, what makes you think there was an impact?

My math skills are horrible. My guesses, tho... I do pretty well.

a reply to: wylekat

There's an app for that.
dizzib.github.io...

This is a pretty good idea. Always thought I'd like to see the end of the world. At least I'd have time to make popcorn.

a reply to: Archivalist

Just a question. How would knowing a celestial object would enter the atmosphere and possibly impact the ground in a few minutes or even hours make any difference? Ignorance is bliss as they say. By telling everyone you're gonna die is a real disservice.

Even several days ahead any attempted evacuation of a major population center would be chaos.

If it's a very large one there is no point at all.

I have always been curious, if an asteroid makes it through out mesosphere without burning up, why do they usually explode before reaching the earth?

Is there some type of physics behind that explosion?