Space is a busy place, full of rocks that could hit us at any time. Most of these space rocks are small and burn up in the atmosphere, creating amazing light shows. But sometimes, these objects explode in the sky, causing a phenomenon called an “airburst.” Very rarely, an airburst happens close to the ground, with results that can be quite destructive. Here are 10 such devastating airburst events from history.
1908: Tunguska Event
The Tunguska Event of 1908 is the largest known airburst in history. On June 30, 1908, an object entered Earth’s atmosphere, heading for a remote part of Siberia near the Tunguska River. The object exploded several miles above the surface, with a force a thousand times stronger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It flattened around 500,000 acres (2,000 sq km) of trees, and the explosion was noticed as far away as Western Europe.
Even today, we aren’t sure what the object was, how big it was, or what it was made of, because there was no impact crater and very little was found at the site. Some theories suggest it was a black hole or even an alien UFO. Russia has even fueled the UFO theory with claims of alien metal or tech found in the area. [1]
1490: Ch’ing-yang Event
Unlike Tunguska, the 1490 event in Ch’ing-yang, China, reportedly caused thousands of deaths and injuries. Records say that up to 10,000 people died in March or April of that year when “stones fell like rain” on the city. Scientists believe that a meteor shower alone couldn’t have caused so many deaths. However, an airburst the size of Tunguska could be a possible explanation.
Interestingly, in January of the same year, astronomers in Japan, China, and Korea saw comet C/1490 Y1, whose destruction led to the Quadrantid meteor shower, which we still see today. Are these two events related? Scientists aren’t sure, but it’s quite a coincidence otherwise. [2]
1650 BC: Tall el-Hammam Event
Many people know the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed by fire from the sky. Scientists think they might have found the ancient city that inspired these stories. It wasn’t a vengeful god who destroyed the city, but an object from space that was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Tall el-Hammam was a lively city during the Bronze Age, just north of the Dead Sea. Around 1650 BC, the city and its surroundings were suddenly abandoned for 300-600 years. Excavations have shown that the palace complex in the city was violently destroyed around this time. The ancient city is covered by a thick layer of carbon and ash, with melted pottery, plaster, and metals.
This would have required temperatures of around 3600°F (2000°C), much hotter than any fire or lava, spread across the city. Only a cosmic airburst could explain this mysterious destruction. Like Tunguska, there’s no evidence of a crater or debris, so we can’t say for sure what it was. All we know is that Tall el-Hammam experienced something that caused widespread destruction and extremely high temperatures. [3]
10,700 BC: Abu Hureyra Event
Abu Hureyra was a Paleolithic village in modern-day Syria and is the earliest evidence we have of an airburst event directly affecting humans.
The story of Abu Hureyra is similar to Tall el-Hammam. There’s evidence of an ancient settlement with an even older one below it. Between them is a layer of ash and materials that melted at very high temperatures. Scientists believe a comet entered the atmosphere and broke apart, with several pieces exploding in airbursts. One of these exploded right over Abu Hureyra.
Unfortunately, with the construction of the Tabqa Dam in 1974, the Abu Hureyra site was flooded and now sits at the bottom of Lake Assad, so we probably won’t learn more about this event anytime soon. [4]
252-383: Hopewell Event
The Hopewell were a Native American people who lived in what is now southern Ohio and were known for building mounds. They were also great traders who had connections as far north as the Canadian Great Lakes and as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. Things were going well for the Hopewell… until they weren’t. There’s strong evidence that the Hopewell experienced a comet airburst.
Around the year 400, the archeological history of the Hopewell culture begins to disappear. Other tribes in the area have stories of “a horned serpent that flew across the sky and dropped rocks,” “a sky panther that could tear down a forest,” and “a day when the sun fell from the sky.” Scientists have found comet pieces and “chemical fingerprints” at Hopewell sites from around this time, and some Hopewell jewelry was made from comet pieces.
The Hopewell people built a mound known as the Milford Earthworks around this time, shaped exactly like a comet. [5]
1626: Wanggongchang Event
Wanggongchang was the name of an armory in Beijing. Since this was China in the 1600s, the armory was full of gunpowder. It’s not particularly noteworthy that an armory full of gunpowder exploded, but the mysterious events right before the explosion are.
On May 30, 1626, it was a clear, calm morning in Beijing. Suddenly, a loud roaring sound came from the sky, starting over the northeast part of the city and moving to the southwest, where the armory was. There was a blinding flash of light, then a huge explosion as the armory and everything around it was destroyed in a mushroom cloud. Statues, trees, and bodies were thrown miles away by the blast.
The blast, which killed 20,000, was originally blamed on mishandling gunpowder. However, that doesn’t explain the strange events before the explosion. The roaring from the sky and the bright light strongly suggest an airburst event. Despite this evidence, no one is completely sure what happened that day in Beijing. [6]
1930: Curuçá River Event
On August 18, 1930, Father Fedele d’Alviano visited a community near the Curuçá River in Brazil and was met by terrified residents who thought the world was ending. He asked for more details.
The people of the community had seen fine red dust falling around them five days earlier, followed by a rain of white ash. Then came a loud, piercing whistle followed by three massive explosions, which set fire to the nearby forest and caused a small earthquake. There were also reports of large balls of fire in the sky.
In 1931, two newspapers in Italy wrote about Father d’Alvino’s reports, but then everyone forgot about it for 60 years, until the mid-1990s when these reports were rediscovered. Expeditions were sent to investigate further.
Like other airburst events, no definitive impact craters were found. Scientists have noted that the event happened around the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, which could have been its source. However, the reports of red dust and white ash that fell before the explosions still baffle scientists. [7]
1888: Sulaymaniyah Event
It’s not certain that what happened in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, was an airburst event. Like the previous entry, this event was largely unknown until recently.
In 2020, Turkish researchers were reading through old Turkish government archives. They found letters about a very unusual event: the earliest evidence of a person being killed by a meteorite.
According to the report, people in Sulaymaniyah saw fireballs falling from the sky for ten minutes on August 12, 1888. One of these fireballs hit a nearby hillside. One man was killed, and another was severely injured. It’s unclear if the object was an intact meteorite or pieces of an airburst. Since this information was only recently rediscovered, researchers are working to learn more. [8]
2013: Chelyabinsk Meteor
The Chelyabinsk meteor is likely familiar to most people, as it happened only 10 years ago. It was widely filmed and discussed. On February 15, 2013, a small asteroid entered Earth’s atmosphere from the direction of the sun, so it went undetected and caught the world by surprise. It exploded in an airburst over the Chelyabinsk region of Russia.
Thankfully, the Chelyabinsk meteor exploded high in the sky, so the full force wasn’t felt on the ground. Still, the explosion caused millions of dollars in damage and injured thousands. Had the airburst happened closer to the ground, the consequences would have been devastating.
This event was a wake-up call, and scientists worldwide called for better observation to detect future asteroids and meteors. [9]
1972: Great Daylight Fireball
The 1972 Great Daylight Fireball is unique on this list because it never exploded. On August 10, 1972, many people saw a fiery object moving across the sky over the western United States and Canada. The object entered and then left the atmosphere without exploding or hitting the Earth. Scientists predicted it would return to Earth’s atmosphere in 1997.
But then a funny thing happened: 1997 came and went, and the object didn’t return as predicted. What happened to it? Did it get knocked out of its orbit? Did it break apart? Did it return and we just missed it? Or is it still out there, destined to become the next devastating airburst event? [10]
From ancient mysteries to modern-day reminders, airburst events have shaped our planet and sparked our imaginations. These cosmic occurrences, whether through destruction or near misses, highlight the dynamic relationship between Earth and the vast universe around us.
What do you think is the most fascinating airburst event? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
