Scientists show proof of 26 atomic bomb scale asteroid impacts since 2000

Three prominent astronauts supporting the B612 Foundation have now presented a visualization of new data showing the surprising frequency at which the Earth is hit by asteroids.

Between 2000 and 2013, this network detected 26 explosions on Earth ranging in energy from 1 to 600 kilotons - all caused not by nuclear explosions, but rather by asteroid impacts.

To put that in perspective, the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945 exploded with an energy impact of 15 kilotons. While most of these asteroids exploded too high in the atmosphere to do serious damage on the ground, the evidence is important in estimating the frequency of a potential "city-killer-size" asteroid.

Dr. Ed Lu, former US shuttle and Soyuz astronaut and co-founder and CEO of the B612 Foundation, said while most large asteroids with the potential to destroy an entire country or continent have been detected, less than 10,000 of the more than a million dangerous asteroids with the potential to destroy an entire major metropolitan area have been found by all existing space or terrestrially-operated observatories.

Lu said because they don't know where or when the next major impact will occur, the only thing preventing a catastrophe from a 'city-killer' sized asteroid has been blind luck.