A giant asteroid, about 10 miles wide, with a force that equals to three billion nuclear bombs may hit Earth says Zhao Haibin, a Chinese astronomer, according to Nature World News. Could this be the end of the world as we know it?
Asteroid to hit Earth, human extinction
It was reported that the huge meteor was detected by Zhao Haibin through the largest telescope in China. Haibin told Dailystar, that astronomers across the globe may have a more accurate moving trajectory of the asteroid with the help of the images provided. The impact of this asteroid could cause human extinction, reports say.
The asteroid is one of 1,640 near-Earth asteroids moving toward Earth, reports IBTimes Australia. In this 2016 asteroid watch web page of NASA, however, there is no alert issued for any asteroid above 250 feet. Ten miles is about 53,000 feet when converted.
NASA: There is no scientific basis for asteroid impact on Earth
The same asteroid was first detected in 2009 and due to speculations that it may hit earth in September, Paul Chodas, manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, had this to say: “There is no scientific basis — not one shred of evidence — that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates.”
The lack of scientific basis does not prevent speculators from jumping to conclusions. However, the official word from the scientists at NASA remains the same: There are no scientific reasons to believe that the end of the world is near.
Meteor hits Gladstone, Australia via CCTV
Although NASA released this statement, reports have been made about a meteor that hit near Gladstone in Queensland, Australia, captured via CCTV. According to the Dailystar, Police have been receiving calls claiming their houses were shaking. Geoscience Australia says it is not due to earthquake.
Movement of the asteroid is being monitored by scientists, since a slight change in its path may have a deadly impact on the earth.