What If Man-Size Meteor From Comet Hit Earth

What If Georgia Was Hit by Man-Size Meteor From Comet

Credit: Stuart WongPhoto taken in Lafayette, CA. on November 19, 2002 at approx. 2:40am. 

According to NASA on May 20 (0247 GMT on May 21), a 6-foot-wide (1.8-meter) space rock barrelled into Earth's atmosphere at 10:47 p.m. EDT about 66 miles (106 kilometers) above the city of Macon, Ga.  It was considered a "fireball," a term given to a meteor that shines brighter than Venus in the sky.

NASA researchers said that, " When it entered the atmosphere, the comet chunk was traveling northwest at about 86,000 mph (138,404 kph).  At this velocity, the boulder-size "dirty snowball" possessed an energy or striking power somewhere between 500 and 1,000 tons of TNT.  What if that boulder was to hit earth in a populated area at such velocity?

Is this a cause for concern? Apparently, we've been having fireballs in our atmosphere quite frequently. According to the article written by Mike Wall , SPACE.com Senior Writer Space.com | SPACE.com – Thu, Jun 2, 2011, this is not unusual.  His article states,"Fireballs like the May 20 event are impressive but not terribly unusual."

He continues, "Objects as big as washing machines typically fall into Earth's atmosphere on a monthly basis, but most of them burn up before reaching the ground. Many of the resulting fireballs are not seen because they occur over remote areas or over oceans (which cover more than two-thirds of Earth's surface)."

My question again is.  What if, such boulders were able to penetrate through earths atmosphere and hit a populated area at such velocity?