Cryptic fireball streaking over US base in Greenland puzzles NASA scientist
A mysterious fireball exploding with the power of a small nuclear bomb, which was detected not far from the US air base in Greenland, has alerted a NASA space explorer. Another called for calm, saying it’s not a Russian strike.
The curious tweet was released by Ron Baalke, a space explorer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in late July. “A fireball was detected over Greenland on July 25, 2018 by US government sensors at an altitude of 43.3 km,” he wrote. The energy from the blast was estimated to be 2.1 kilotons.
A fireball was detected over Greenland on July 25, 2018 by US Government sensors at an altitude of 43.3 km. The energy from the explosion is estimated to be 2.1 kilotons. pic.twitter.com/EePuk14Pqd
— Rocket Ron 🚀 (@RonBaalke) 31 июля 2018 г.
The information about the cosmic flotsam also bugged researcher Hans Kristensen, a director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. He said that the “meteor” exploded “above missile early warning radar at Thule Air Base,” the northernmost US base, which has operated on the island since the 1940s.
Meteor explodes with 2.1 kilotons force 43 km above missile early warning radar at Thule Air Base. https://t.co/qGvhRDXyfKHT @Casillic We’re still here, so they correctly concluded it was not a Russian first strike. There are nearly 2,000 nukes on alert, ready to launch. pic.twitter.com/q01oJfRUp4
— Hans Kristensen (@nukestrat) 1 августа 2018 г.
The scientist didn’t pass up the opportunity for a ‘Russians did it’ joke. “We’re still here, so they correctly concluded it was not a Russian first strike,” he wrote, noting that “there are nearly 2,000 nukes on alert, ready to launch.”
Kristensen’s followers, however, didn’t breathe a sigh of relief. The other way round, the message triggered tweets from puzzled people:
Forgive me, am I understanding you’re tweet correctly that had this meteor been incorrectly identified, it would have triggered the launch of 2,000 nukes?
— Cow Haver & Shorts Eater (@gaydogweed) 2 августа 2018 г.
One day soon we are all going to die from a miscalculation.
— 🌊Sher' Wilson 🌊 (@cherokeesher2) 1 августа 2018 г.
— Bennigan’s Wake (@ZofranAggie) 2 августа 2018 г.
Sooo... we meeting our maker? I'm ready.
— Dave (@RealDCMII89) 2 августа 2018 г.
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