Asteroid threat of nuclear conflict
05oct02 WASHINGTON: At least 30 times a year asteroids blaze through Earth's atmosphere and explode with the violence of a nuclear bomb. Now officials are worried the natural explosions could trigger an atomic war.
Air force Brigadier General Simon Worden told members of a House Science subcommittee the US has instruments that determine within one minute whether an atmospheric explosion is natural or man-made.
But none of the other nations with nuclear weapons has that detection technology and General Worden said there was concern that some of those countries could mistake a natural explosion for an attack and immediately launch an atomic retaliation.
Worden, deputy director for operations of the US Strategic Command, said there was the risk of such a mistaken atomic exchange last August when Pakistan and India, both with atomic bombs, were poised for war.
Not far away, a few weeks before, General Worden said, US satellites detected over the Mediterranean an atmospheric flash that indicated "an energy release comparable to the Hiroshima burst".
Air force instruments quickly determined it was caused by an asteroid 3m to 10m wide.
The general said it could have caused a major human conflict if it had occurred over India or Pakistan while both were on high alert. --- Sent from UnionMail Service [http://mail.union.org.za]