What is the real explanation for the Tunguska explosion in Russia?
A stony asteroid about 100 meters across entered the atmosphere at about 60,000 Kph. The air beneath the asteroid compressed until it was as dense as the rock. The rock exploded at that point releasing all the kinetic energy of the compressed air about 5 miles off the ground. The explosion shockwave came out of the sky flattening the trees everywhere in a five mile radius except directly under the explosion. Those trees burned, but were not blown down. All the other trees fell pointing away from the blast.center. No crater was left to contain the impact. Air burst meteors are the rule for stony meteorites. They explode into tiny fragments fist size and smaller. Metallics generally hit the ground and excavate a pretty big hole compared to the size of the object..
