On January 13, 2004, Timothy...
On January 13, 2004, Timothy Spahr, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, observed a pinpoint of light indicating a possible earthbound asteroid. He posted the information on the website for other astronomers to note. While he was at dinner that evening, an amateur German astronomer noted that the object, estimated to be about 100 feet in diameter, was approaching the earth at a blistering speed. At that size, it would probably explode in the atmosphere a few miles above the earth's surface with the force of a one-megaton H-bomb.