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Do You Think That The Goverment Are Purposely Witholding Information About Large Asteroids And Meteors Heading Towards Us?
39 Answers
I do, i think there is a team that keeps an eye out and if it's a near miss we're only told when it's safe and is definitely going to miss us but then this leaves the other side of the coin.
Just when will they tell us when there is a 100% chance of a "End of life" asteroid hitting us?
When it's a year, month, week, hours away?
Is this fair that the scientists and those in high powers will get a better chance at being on the other side of the earth during impact or more time to see and say goodbye to their loved ones where these rest of us might get a few hours if we're lucky?
Just when will they tell us when there is a 100% chance of a "End of life" asteroid hitting us?
When it's a year, month, week, hours away?
Is this fair that the scientists and those in high powers will get a better chance at being on the other side of the earth during impact or more time to see and say goodbye to their loved ones where these rest of us might get a few hours if we're lucky?
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////Just when will they tell us when there is a 100% chance of a "End of life" asteroid hitting us?////
Life ends every day. But as you are talking about the end of life + everything else then the knowledge of that is only with God. And that is the way it should be otherwise people will get panicked. One thing is sure in my mind that if I am supposed to die due to an asteroid hitting the Earth then there is nothing I can do about that. So forget about it.
Life ends every day. But as you are talking about the end of life + everything else then the knowledge of that is only with God. And that is the way it should be otherwise people will get panicked. One thing is sure in my mind that if I am supposed to die due to an asteroid hitting the Earth then there is nothing I can do about that. So forget about it.
No, I do not. NASA co-ordinates the Near-Earth Objects project, scanning for various chunks of material that could cause a serious impact upon Earth. Current total of Near-Earth Objects ( the vast majority of which are categorised as benign because of size of object and/or distance and trajectory in relation to Earth) is, I think, around 50,000 or so now, but the list of potentially hazardous objects is a great deal smaller. ( 200 or so ).
This project is run out of 4-5 well known observatories, in addition to several hundred astronomers around the globe. This set-up does not lend itself to black -hat covert operations.
The risks of an asteroid or comet impacting the earth of sufficient size to create an extinction level event is around 1 in 1 million years, whereas the risk of one large enough to wipe out a city is rather more frequent , thought to be around 1 every 100 years or so - The recent meteor strike in Russia would be a very good example of that - An amazing phenomenon to see on the various video clips, but must have been pretty frightening if you were on its flight path.
We are not geared up to be able to scan the skies very efficiently though, so there are scenarios where I can imagine a very large meteor on an impact trajectory with Earth being picked up with only days or maybe weeks before it hits, especially if it was coming from a direction we do not tend to scan quite so frequently. In those circumstances, where there was little time to try some sort of planetary defence strategy, I could imagine a government trying to keep a lid on it - the calculation would be the harms that might arise from the panic versus the need for openness and transparency. Thing is , they are not all that good at keeping secrets, especially not in this day and age; And if an attempt was made to defend the planet, that would definitely mean the public became informed.
Not that I am superstitious, but fingers crossed and all that....Our technology and political / cultural development has been such that the one very real human controlled risk - nuclear annihilation through global nuclear war has receded,although an engineered microbe/ virus remains a threat.The others we have very little control over; Large Cometary Strike, Catastrophic Volcanic Eruption (s), A nearby star going supernova emitting gamma radiation. Most of the other risks are longer term, the one causing the greatest debate is Climate Change.
Some Religions, hearing about an imminent extinction level event, ,might attempt to use it as a kind of judgement day, but of course the true judgement day requires a deity and we all know there is no deity, right? ;)
So, talk of "puppetmasters", and "hiding the truth" sound a little - paranoid - to me.
This project is run out of 4-5 well known observatories, in addition to several hundred astronomers around the globe. This set-up does not lend itself to black -hat covert operations.
The risks of an asteroid or comet impacting the earth of sufficient size to create an extinction level event is around 1 in 1 million years, whereas the risk of one large enough to wipe out a city is rather more frequent , thought to be around 1 every 100 years or so - The recent meteor strike in Russia would be a very good example of that - An amazing phenomenon to see on the various video clips, but must have been pretty frightening if you were on its flight path.
We are not geared up to be able to scan the skies very efficiently though, so there are scenarios where I can imagine a very large meteor on an impact trajectory with Earth being picked up with only days or maybe weeks before it hits, especially if it was coming from a direction we do not tend to scan quite so frequently. In those circumstances, where there was little time to try some sort of planetary defence strategy, I could imagine a government trying to keep a lid on it - the calculation would be the harms that might arise from the panic versus the need for openness and transparency. Thing is , they are not all that good at keeping secrets, especially not in this day and age; And if an attempt was made to defend the planet, that would definitely mean the public became informed.
Not that I am superstitious, but fingers crossed and all that....Our technology and political / cultural development has been such that the one very real human controlled risk - nuclear annihilation through global nuclear war has receded,although an engineered microbe/ virus remains a threat.The others we have very little control over; Large Cometary Strike, Catastrophic Volcanic Eruption (s), A nearby star going supernova emitting gamma radiation. Most of the other risks are longer term, the one causing the greatest debate is Climate Change.
Some Religions, hearing about an imminent extinction level event, ,might attempt to use it as a kind of judgement day, but of course the true judgement day requires a deity and we all know there is no deity, right? ;)
So, talk of "puppetmasters", and "hiding the truth" sound a little - paranoid - to me.
It's a bit paranoid but let me ask you all a question.
You are the PM and told that there was an asteroid impact due in the next 12 hours with probably the same destructive impact as a small nuclear device and there was a projected strike area ranging from the atlantic through into Siberia with a 12% chance of it hitting the UK somewhere in an East-West band from Southampton to Birmingham.
What will you do?
You are the PM and told that there was an asteroid impact due in the next 12 hours with probably the same destructive impact as a small nuclear device and there was a projected strike area ranging from the atlantic through into Siberia with a 12% chance of it hitting the UK somewhere in an East-West band from Southampton to Birmingham.
What will you do?
Some great answers here.
Jakethepeg i'd tell the people as the reality is it could be someones last hours or some possible casualties could be avoided if the truth is known.
Lazygun i'll have to come back to you as i'm in a rush to go out.
"Noboody could keep a secret that big. There are many thousands of stargazers only too keen to share their discoveries. "
Atlanta where were these thousands of stargazers who were meant to be keen to share their discovery when a double decker bus sized meteor broke through earths defenses, caught everyone unaware and nearly killed hundreds/thousands?
If it happened once it could happen again but this time with a faster larger more aggressive meteor.
Jakethepeg i'd tell the people as the reality is it could be someones last hours or some possible casualties could be avoided if the truth is known.
Lazygun i'll have to come back to you as i'm in a rush to go out.
"Noboody could keep a secret that big. There are many thousands of stargazers only too keen to share their discoveries. "
Atlanta where were these thousands of stargazers who were meant to be keen to share their discovery when a double decker bus sized meteor broke through earths defenses, caught everyone unaware and nearly killed hundreds/thousands?
If it happened once it could happen again but this time with a faster larger more aggressive meteor.
We found two new moons of Jupiter only last year. Asteroids that hit the Earth tend not to be to big, so not seeing them is frankly far more likely than some conspiracy. The skies and Solar System are far too large for us to keep track of everything in it, even if we gave up staring into the deepness of the Universe and focused on our own backyard. There is just no reason to believe otherwise -- so why be paranoid?
And besides, the Government can't keep secrets... They'd leave it on a train, or someone would leak it.
And besides, the Government can't keep secrets... They'd leave it on a train, or someone would leak it.
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