“And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning
with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died;
and the third part of the ships were destroyed”
(Revelation 8:8-9).
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars;
and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves
roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and
for looking after those things which are coming on the earth
: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken”
(Luke 21:25-26).
During the time known in the Bible as the Great Tribulation, there shall be
“
upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity”
and calamities “
such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever
shall be”
. Daniel described it as
“a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to
that same time”
(Daniel 12:1). Likewise, the prophet Jeremiah says
“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it”
(Jeremiah 30:7).
This
“day”
is known as the
“day of the Lord”
by several of the prophets. The prophet Zephaniah said,
“The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even
the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That
day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and
desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick
darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against
the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like
blind men,
because they have sinned against the LORD
:
and their blood shall be poured out as dust
, and their flesh as the dung”
(Zephaniah 1:14-17).
Isaiah said,
“Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a
destruction from the Almighty … Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel
both with wrath and fierce anger,
to lay the land desolate
:
and
he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it
… And
I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity
”
(Isaiah 13:6-13). (See also 2:12-22, Nahum 1:3-7, Haggai 2:6-7) Joel said,
“the day of the LORD is great and terrible; and who can abide it?”
(Joel 2:11).
This day shall be
“upon all the heathen”
(Obadiah 1:15),
“that he may avenge him of his adversaries”
(Jeremiah 46:10),
“for their evil”
, and
“for their iniquity”
,
“because they have sinned against the LORD”
, for they
“repented not of the works of their hands”
nor
“of their deeds”
(Revelation 9:20, 16:11).
The "day of the Lord" will commence after the rapture of the church, just prior
to the return of King Jesus to the earth, who is gone into heaven
“to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return”
(Luke 19:12, Daniel 7:13-14). Before He returns we
“shall be caught up together … in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
air”
(1 Thessalonians 4:17). Seven years later the Lord Jesus Christ shall return
to the earth
“with all his saints”
(1Thessalonians 3:13). Enoch prophesied saying
“Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute
judgment upon all”
(Jude 14-15).
The Revelation
When the apostle John received the Revelation on the Isle of Patmos, he saw the
glorified Jesus Christ, risen from the dead and alive forevermore. After
receiving the letters to the seven churches in Asia Minor, John was caught up
(raptured) in the spirit to heaven where he beheld scenes of angels and saints
worshipping round about the throne.
In right hand of Him who sat on the throne was a scroll
“sealed with seven seals”
(Revelation 5:1). This was the title deed to the whole earth (cref. Jeremiah
32:10-15). And the question was asked,
“Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?”
Jesus at one time said,
“Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than
John the Baptist”
(Luke 7:28), but John the Baptist would say of Christ
“behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not
worthy to loose”
(Acts 13:25).
John (the apostle) then wept because no one among men was found worthy to take
the book and open the seals thereof. All were found to be sinners and subject
to death, which is the payment thereof. But alas, there was One who hath
prevailed, who conquered sin and death, setting the captives free from the
power of the devil, redeeming them with His precious blood. His name is Jesus
Christ.
He has made us alive
“together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled
principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them
in it”
(Colossians 2:13-15). This so great salvation
“is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who
hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel”
(2Timothy 1:10). Christ died for our sins and He rose again
“that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is, the devil”
(Hebrews 2:14).
In the beginning, Adam was given dominion over all the earth but his authority
was usurped by the devil when Adam sinned. Death then entered the world and the
earth came under the curse (Genesis 3:17), and ever since, the whole of
creation has been under the
“bondage of corruption”
(Romans 8:21). We now know however that the redemption price to liberate man
and deliver the whole of creation from the bondage of death was paid long ago
on Calvary's cross, but the earth is still under the dominion of the wicked one
(1 John 5:19).
Jesus has paid the price of death in our place, but God has vindicated Him,
raising
“him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly
places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to
come: And hath put all things under his feet”
(Ephesians 1:20-22).
And now, John sees standing in the midst of the throne, the Lamb who appears as
He had been slain, go forth to take the title deed out from the right hand of
His Father. He has paid the redemption price and is now to return to earth to
destroy
the sinners thereof out of it and take back the possession thereof.
Daniel saw this day in a vision saying
“I saw … one like the Son of man
[who]
came to the Ancient of days … And there was given him dominion, and glory,
and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his
dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom
that which shall not be destroyed”
Daniel 7:13-14).
Jesus Christ alone is victorious and therefore worthy to take the scroll and
open the seals. He is
“appointed heir of all things”
(Hebrews 1:2) and now goes forth to purge the earth of its awful usurpers and
begins by breaking open the first seal. John said
“I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a
crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer …
and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he
doth judge and make war … and his name is called The Word of God …
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the
nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God”
(Revelation 6:2, 19:11, 13, 15).
The scenes of the Revelation are dreadful and shocking to say the least. The
events are frightful and terrible, but the whole world will know that
“the great day of His wrath is come”
(Rev. 6:15-17). The world has been treasuring up
“wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment
of God”
(Romans 2:5). The world has been in constant rebellion against the Lord and
His Anointed, always resisting the Holy Ghost. Although He has been
longsuffering for many thousands of years,
not willing that any perish, the measure of their iniquity is now full, and
their
sins have reached unto heaven. The day of grace is now over. God has tolerated
the wicked for a time, but He will
bear with them no longer. They have filled up the measure and He is now coming
to
“execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among
them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all
their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him”
(Jude 1:15).
“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a
righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute
judgment and justice in the earth”
(Jeremiah 23:5).
Comets, Asteroids and Meteorites
Of particular interest, and the focus of this paper is the earth shattering
events that shall take place during the tribulation, primarily when the second
trumpet is sounded. This
has to do with what appears to be a great meteorite or comet the size of a
mountain that
will plunge
into the sea
.
This cosmic disturbance will turn a third part of the sea to blood and
destroy a third part of the creatures therein. As well, a third part of the
ships will be destroyed in this great judgment.
This is not the only asteroid or comet that will strike the earth for the like
appears in the sixth seal (Rev. 6:12-14) as well as the third trumpet (Rev.
8:10-11). Along with a great earthquake, these shall cause the sun to darken
with dust hurled into the upper atmosphere. Isaiah stated that
“the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their
light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not
cause her light to shine”
(Isaiah 13:10). The Lord said through the prophet Joel,
“I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and
pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come”
(Joel 2:30-31).
This appears to be THE great final sign before the coming of the Lord to the
earth. The apostles made record of this as well.
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars;
and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;
the sea and the waves roaring
; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which
are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great
glory.
”
(Luke 21:25-26).
“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and
the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the
powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power
and glory
”
(Mark 13:24-26).
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all
the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory
”
(Matthew 24:29-30).
Scanning the Skies
On March 23, 1989, an asteroid about a half-mile wide crossed the Earth's orbit
about 400,000 miles from Earth. One might think that this is not so alarming if
the Earth had not been in that same spot a mere six hours earlier. This
prompted the U.S. Government in 1990 to direct NASA to begin the 'Spaceguard
Survey' [as suggested by Arthur C. Clarke in 1973] to study this subject. It
was stated in the NASA Multiyear Authorization Act of 1990 that it is
“imperative that detection rate of Earth-orbit-crossing asteroids must be
increased substantially, and that means to destroy or alter the orbits”.
In 1991, US Congress House Committee on Science and Technology used the NASA
Authorization Bill to direct NASA to study 1) a program to increase detection
rate of Earth-orbit-crossing asteroids addressing costs, schedule, technology
and equipment (Spaceguard Survey Report); 2) systems and technologies to
destroy or alter orbits of such asteroids if they should pose a danger to life
on Earth (NEO Interception Workshop).
Another branch of this program is NEAT (Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking) which is
an autonomous celestial observatory developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
and funded by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) to study
asteroids and comets. They have a survey telescope on Mount Palomar in
California that is continually scanning the skies for near earth asteroids.
Since the inception of these programs, more than 350 of the objects detected
have been labeled potential threats to Earth. NASA has given the Near Earth
Object (NEO) program the goal of finding 90 percent of objects two-thirds of a
mile or larger that fly near the Earth by 2008.
In January of 1996 a UN meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, resolved that an
international network of telescopes under UN aegis is needed for NEO searching
and tracking. As well in 1996, the Parliamentary, the Assembly of the Council
of Europe, passed Resolution 1080, for the detection of asteroids and comets
that are potentially dangerous to mankind.
In light of the day in which we are living, is it not interesting that these
above mentioned programs have just been developed to search out such asteroids
that they might be deflected or destroyed? Even if this were possible, they
would need sufficient advanced notice if they were even to attempt such a thing.
But, what if such an asteroid was detected without sufficient notice to do
anything about it? The Bible prophecies that a mountain sized asteroid will hit
the earth in the near future. What do you think might happen when the masses of
humanity see this pending destruction coming upon the earth? Perhaps this is
what our Lord was referring to when He said
“there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and
upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves
roaring;
Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which
are coming on the earth
: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken”
(Luke 21:25-26). This mountain sized “asteroid” will be
“cast into the
sea”
which no doubt would cause
“the sea and the waves
[to be]
roaring”
.
Perhaps this approaching asteroid will be televised for the whole world to see.
There has after all been a considerable amount of celestial activity televised
in years gone by. Consider the comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9
collision that occurred
with Jupiter in July 1994, a rare event
(http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/comet.html). This was the first collision
of two solar system bodies ever to be observed. Shoemaker-Levy 9 consisted of
20 discernable fragments with diameters estimated at up to 2 kilometers, which
impacted the planet at 60 km/s. The impacts resulted in plumes many thousands
of kilometers high, hot "bubbles" of gas in the atmosphere, and large
dark "scars" on the atmosphere.
As well, we just had
Comet Hyakutake
(left)
in 1996, and
Comet Hale-Bopp
(right) in 1997 that passed by which were very observable
with the naked eye for months.
Other asteroids have been detected that are of considerable concern. CNN
reports (http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9803/11/asteroid/) of an asteroid,
designated as
1997 XF11
, one mile wide to pass within 30,000 miles of the earth on October 26, 2028.
Their estimate although has a margin of error of 180,000 miles.
Colliding with the Earth at more than 17,000 miles an hour would explode with
energy of about 320,000 megatons of dynamite. That equals almost 2 million
Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs. It would blast a crater 20 miles across and so
clog the sky with dust and vapor that the sun would be darkened "for
weeks, if not months."
All asteroids are not spotted this early though. Just recently on January 7,
2002 a 500-meter asteroid dubbed
“2001 YB5”
passed within 600,000 kilometers of the planet. 2001 YB5 was discovered in
December by the “Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking” telescope on Mount
Palomar in California. Traveling at 19 miles per second, longer than three
football fields, the asteroid would've doomed any state it landed on or drowned
coastal cities in a tidal wave in the event of an ocean impact. Don Yeomans,
project manager of NASA's Near Earth Objects program said its impact energy
"would be well beyond all of the atomic weapons in the U.S. and Russian
arsenals". "If it hit in the ocean near a continent, all the cities
on that coast would be destroyed."
David Morrison, who analyzes asteroid and comet impacts at NASA's Ames Research
Center in California said, “There's nothing you could have done in two
weeks … Nor even two years." Morrison said it would take years if not
a decade or more to assemble a rocket and components needed to nudge a doomsday
asteroid away from Earth. He said "Something that big goes by the planet
that close every few months, we just happened to find this one".
While mankind has recently become to some degree obsessed with saving planet
Earth, it appears that with all of his technology it will yet prove to be
vanity. When the Lord returns, it will be “
with wrath and fierce anger,
to lay the land desolate
: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it
” (Isaiah 13:9).
In 1994 astronomer Jim Scotti discovered
XL1
that came within 65,000 miles of Earth. Think about how close that is. The
circumference of the Earth is around 24,000 miles. The distance then was only
around 2.5 times the circumference of the earth. This is what some might call
too close for comfort. The discovery of this asteroid only gave 14 hours of
warning before passing by.
On May 19, 1996 an asteroid about a third of a mile wide passed within 280,000
miles of Earth. This one was only discovered four days before it hurtled past
the earth.
In 1972 a large meteor almost hit the earth in Montana, bouncing off the
atmosphere into space because of its angle of approach.
On January 17, 1991, an asteroid estimated to be about 30 feet wide passed
within 106,000 miles of Earth. It was the closest "near miss" ever
recorded until that time. In the past, however there have been impacts with the
earth. The following are some of the larger and more popular ones.
On June 30, 1908 at 7:20 AM, direct eyewitnesses gave account that a fireball
nearly as
bright as the Sun streaked to Earth out a cloudless morning sky. The bolide's
plunge was abruptly terminated by an explosion so great that it registered on
seismic stations across Eurasia. The resulting shock wave circled the Earth
twice.
At 7:20 AM, a mighty noise was heard resolving into thunder-cracks, though the
sky was cloudless at the time. The noise caused houses to shake. Many
inhabitants saw “a fiery body like a beam” shoot from the northwest
above the ground before they heard the thunder. Immediately afterward the bang
was heard, and in the place the fiery body had disappeared, a “tongue of
fire” appeared, followed by “smoke”.
It was also recorded that “Virtually every tree within 20 miles of the
Tunguska blast was knocked down, people were badly burned 40 miles away, and
some 400 miles away horses were thrown off their feet.” (Mysteries of the
Unexplained)
It has been estimated that this meteorite/comet was approximately a 1-7 million
ton rock 60-160 meters in diameter. Its blast was measured on seismographs
across Europe and was equivalent to a 12-megaton blast. This is 600 times
larger than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
Eugene Shoemaker of the US Geological Survey have put considerable effort into
calculating the odds of an event like Tungusta happening again and notes, there
is a 12- to 40-percent chance of another Tunguska in the next 75 years.
Arizona's Meteor Crater
Barringer Meteor Crater in northern Arizona, is a bowl-shaped depression 180m
deep and 1.2km in diameter. It was named after American scientist Daniel M.
Barringer who in 1905 theorized that the crater was meteoric in origin. The
crater was the first impact site of an object to be identified on the Earth.
Scientists think that the crater was formed sometime between 25,000 and 50,000
years ago (Creationists believe it was more recent than that) by an iron
meteorite, somewhere between 30 and 100m in diameter, weighing roughly 60,000
tons. The energy released by the impact was roughly equivalent to 3.5 million
tons of TNT. Most of the object vaporized, but about 30 tons of fragments have
been collected.
Yucatan Asteroid
In 1990 a scientist called Alan Hildebrand was looking over some old
geophysical data that had been recorded by a group of geophysicists searching
for oil in the Yucatan region of Mexico. Within the data he found evidence of
what could have been an impact site. What he 'found' was a ring structure 180km
in diameter, which was called Chicxulub. The location of this structure was
just off the northwest tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. (Scientists theorize that
this happened 65 million years ago and was the cause of the extinction of the
dinosaurs.) The size of the crater is comparable to that which would have been
caused by an impacting body with a diameter of roughly 10km.
Our Only Hope
This article is by no means intended to scare or cause any one to worry but
rather, in it is recorded
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his
servants things which must shortly come to pass”
(Revelation 1:1). As previously mentioned, the church will not go through the
tribulation
“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should
live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one
another, even as also ye do”
(1 Thessalonians 5:9-11).
Two Thousand years ago the Lord said He was going to prepare a place for His
people, then return to gather them unto Himself. Due to His
“prolonged” time in heaven, it may appear to some (mockers) that the
Lord has forgotten His promise. But,
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance”
(2 Peter 3:9). This is the grand purpose of His longsuffering—that all
would repent!
“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation”
(2 Peter 3:15).
God desires that not one should perish.
“As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the
wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from
your evil ways; for why will ye die”
(Ezekiel 33:11)?
God desires that the wicked turn from his way and
“now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a
day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he
hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath
raised him from the dead”
(Acts 17:30-31). But for those who reject the death and resurrection of the
Lord Jesus on their behalf, can only expect
“a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which
shall devour the adversaries”
(Hebrews 10:27). The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord
but
“except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”
(Luke 13:3).
“The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope
in his death”
(Proverbs 14:32). But who is righteous? The Bible says
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one”
(Romans 3:10).
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind,
have taken us away”
(Isaiah 64:6).
The Bible clearly declares that righteousness is a gift freely received by the
repentant sinner who puts his faith in the substitutionary death of Christ.
“For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which
receive abundance of grace and of
the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ”
(Romans 5:17). God has made Jesus Christ to
“to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him”
(2Corinthians 5:21).
This is the record, Abraham
“believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness”
(Genesis 15:6). Abraham was
“fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able to perform. And
therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness”
(Romans 4:21-22). And let it be known,
"there hath not failed one word of all his good promise"
(1Kings 8:56).
And the Scriptures go on to say that
“it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But
for us also, to whom it shall be imputed,
if we believe on him that raised up
Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was
raised again for our justification.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of
God”
(Romans 4:23-5:2).
Rest not on your own accomplishments but rather that Jesus Christ accomplished
“all things”
(John 19:28) for you. Rest not on your own good works, but rather on the work
of Christ in your stead. Only
“the blood of Christ”
can
“purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God”
(Hebrews 9:14). It is
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to his mercy he saved us"
(Titus 3:5).
Rest not on your own sufferings, trials or tribulations, but
rather on
those of our Lord Jesus Christ,
“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,
that he might bring us to God”
(1 Peter 3:18). Rest not on the sacrifices that you have made, but rather that
Christ has
"appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself"
(Hebrews 9:26).
Forget your self-esteem! Get your eyes off yourself and turn
your eyes upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God
should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things,
and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the
captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings”
(Hebrews 2:9-10).
Listen to the Captain of our salvation:
“Repent ye, and believe the gospel”
(Mark 1:15). Justification comes only by faith in the death, burial and
ressurection of Jesus Christ
on our behalf, whereby we recieve the Spirit of Adoption.
"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ"
(Romans 8:17).
If you are not yet a child of God, turn from your ways and recieve Jesus Christ
and He will save you from your sins. God gave His Son to die in your place.
Believe on Him today. Call on the Lord, confessing your sin for
"he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness"
(1John 1:9).
“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be
sure your sin will find you out”
(Numbers 32:23). If ye will not now choose Christ, in your hour of desperation
remember this
“the blood of Jesus Christ
[Gods]
Son cleanseth us from all sin”
(1 John 1:7).
Perhaps this approaching asteroid will be televised for the whole world to see.
There has after all been a considerable amount of celestial activity televised
in years gone by. Consider the comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9
collision that occurred
with Jupiter in July 1994, a rare event
(http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/comet.html). This was the first collision
of two solar system bodies ever to be observed. Shoemaker-Levy 9 consisted of
20 discernable fragments with diameters estimated at up to 2 kilometers, which
impacted the planet at 60 km/s. The impacts resulted in plumes many thousands
of kilometers high, hot "bubbles" of gas in the atmosphere, and large
dark "scars" on the atmosphere.
As well, we just had
Comet Hyakutake
(left)
in 1996, and
Comet Hale-Bopp
(right) in 1997 that passed by which were very observable
with the naked eye for months.
Other asteroids have been detected that are of considerable concern. CNN
reports (http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9803/11/asteroid/) of an asteroid,
designated as
1997 XF11
, one mile wide to pass within 30,000 miles of the earth on October 26, 2028.
Their estimate although has a margin of error of 180,000 miles.
David Morrison, who analyzes asteroid and comet impacts at NASA's Ames Research
Center in California said, “There's nothing you could have done in two
weeks … Nor even two years." Morrison said it would take years if not
a decade or more to assemble a rocket and components needed to nudge a doomsday
asteroid away from Earth. He said "Something that big goes by the planet
that close every few months, we just happened to find this one".
It was also recorded that “Virtually every tree within 20 miles of the
Tunguska blast was knocked down, people were badly burned 40 miles away, and
some 400 miles away horses were thrown off their feet.” (Mysteries of the
Unexplained)
Barringer Meteor Crater in northern Arizona, is a bowl-shaped depression 180m
deep and 1.2km in diameter. It was named after American scientist Daniel M.
Barringer who in 1905 theorized that the crater was meteoric in origin. The
crater was the first impact site of an object to be identified on the Earth.
Scientists think that the crater was formed sometime between 25,000 and 50,000
years ago (Creationists believe it was more recent than that) by an iron
meteorite, somewhere between 30 and 100m in diameter, weighing roughly 60,000
tons. The energy released by the impact was roughly equivalent to 3.5 million
tons of TNT. Most of the object vaporized, but about 30 tons of fragments have
been collected.
In 1990 a scientist called Alan Hildebrand was looking over some old
geophysical data that had been recorded by a group of geophysicists searching
for oil in the Yucatan region of Mexico. Within the data he found evidence of
what could have been an impact site. What he 'found' was a ring structure 180km
in diameter, which was called Chicxulub. The location of this structure was
just off the northwest tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. (Scientists theorize that
this happened 65 million years ago and was the cause of the extinction of the
dinosaurs.) The size of the crater is comparable to that which would have been
caused by an impacting body with a diameter of roughly 10km.