SANDIA SUPERCOMPUTERS OFFER NEW EXPLANATION OF
TUNGUSKA DISASTER

Sandia national Laboratories, 17 December 2007

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The stunning amount of forest
devastation at Tunguska a century ago in Siberia may
have been caused by an asteroid only a fraction as large
as previously published estimates, Sandia National
Laboratories supercomputer simulations suggest.

"The asteroid that caused the extensive damage was much
smaller than we had thought," says Sandia principal investigator
Mark Boslough of the impact that occurred June 30, 1908.

"That such a small object can do this kind of destruction
suggests that smaller asteroids are something to consider.
Their smaller size indicates such collisions are not as
improbable as we had believed."

Because smaller asteroids approach Earth statistically
more frequently than larger ones, he says, "We should be
making more efforts at detecting the smaller ones than we
have till now."

Full article here:

http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2007/asteroid.html