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Asteroid blast over the Mediterranean seen by U.S. early-warning satellites

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Official portrait of Brig. Gen. Simon P. Worden in uniform
Brig. Gen. Simon Worden, who described the 2002 Mediterranean blast to a House subcommittee US Air Force, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

U.S. early-warning satellites saw a small asteroid explode over the Mediterranean with an estimated 20 to 30 kilotons of energy. Brig. Gen. Simon Worden later told a House subcommittee that a similar blast over India or Pakistan, then in a nuclear standoff, could have been mistaken for an attack.

Sources

  1. OfficialThe Threat of Near-Earth Asteroids, hearing before the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics (testimony of Brig. Gen. Simon P. Worden)U.S. House Committee on Science / 2002-10-03
  2. OtherNear-Earth Objects Pose Threat, General SaysEnergy Daily (SpaceDaily network) / 2002-10

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