Sunday, October 13, 2002

Incoming
An asteroid that entered the Earth's atmosphere last June and exploded with a burst of energy comparable to the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima could have set off a nuclear war between Pakistan and India .

"If it had occurred at the same latitude just a few hours earlier, the result on human affairs might have been much worse," he warned. "Imagine that the bright flash accompanied by a damaging shock wave had occurred over India or Pakistan. To our knowledge, neither of those nations have the sophisticated sensors that can determine the difference between a natural N.E.O. impact and a nuclear detonation. The resulting panic in the nuclear-armed and hair-triggered opposing forces could have been the spark that ignited a nuclear horror we have avoided for over a half century."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/13/weekinreview/13ASTR.html

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