Earth Meets the Asteroid

We may have dodged this bullet, but the awful truth is that tens of thousands of these things are zipping through space at great speeds. Many in paths we know about but most remain undetected in their flights around the sun. As late as the 1950's astronomers used to look at the moons many craters thinking that these huge craters were caused by volcanic activity only in later years did we learn that these many craters were caused by the violent impacts of asteroids and meteorite's. And in recent years we are beginning to see the many large asteroid impact sites all over the earth. These were difficult to locate due to the weathering process that exist here on Earth, but with the help of satellite imaging hundreds of major impact sites have been located. Many of these craters are miles across and if such an event would occur today life as we know it would cease. The impact of an asteroid only one mile in diameter in California would create a land tidal wave hundreds of feet high that would sweep across the United States at a speed of about 500 miles an hour literally going coast to coast destroying everything in it path with a resulting dust cloud that would cover the entire earth causing severe climatic changes for tens of years.

The odds are against this happening in our life-time. But the fact is that it will happen again and again in the future and there is little we can do to prevent it. And another frightening truth exist. If such a object is on path to impact the earth in the near future and the authorities know about it you can be sure we, the public will be left in the dark. We will not know the awful truth until the atmosphere is set on fire by the heat of entry and we view the massive fire ball that pushes up through the stratosphere. A fireball that will be seen for hundreds of miles from the impact point. And then we will hear the distant rumble of the fast approaching tidal wave of earth that is barreling down on us with the speed of a jet plane. Not a pretty picture, but a reality that is unavoidable and final! Man-made global warming, Ha! This could be the real thing!

NASA says the chances of an 885-foot (270-meter) asteroid striking Earth in 2036 have been downgraded.

Scientists initially believed there was a 1-in-45,000 chance that Apophis could hit the planet on April 13, 2036. But NASA said Wednesday the threat has been dropped to 1-in-250,000 after it recalculated the asteriod's path.

Earth got a scare in 2004, when initial readings suggested the newly discovered Apophis seemed to have a chance of hitting in 2029. Further observations ruled out any possibility of an impact. read more from FOX News