There are several reports on explosions of unknown origin, the best known being the 1908 Tunguska event. The explosive yields of the events vary between 1 ton and 20 megatons, and witnesses have described most of these explosions as result of a meteor-like event, which ended with the explosion. Scientific consensus is that these explosions are likely the result of atypical meteors.
| Date | Location | Yield of explosion (TNT equivalent) | Height of explosion | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 30, 1908 | 60 kilometres (37 mi) west northwest of Vanavara, at [1] in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russian Empire | 10–15 megatonnes of TNT (42–63 PJ) | 8.5 km (5.3 mi) | Tunguska event |
| August 13, 1930 | Curuçá River Area, Amazonas, Brazil | 0.1–1.0 megatonne of TNT (0.42–4.2 PJ) | generally assumed to be generated by three meteors.[2][3][4] | |
| March 31, 1965 | Revelstoke, British Columbia | 600 tonnes of TNT (2.5 TJ) | 13 km (8 mi) | 1 g (0.035 oz) material from meteorite found
Sometimes placed in Southeastern Canada on May 31 [5] |
| September 17, 1966 | Lake Huron, Michigan–Ontario | 600 tonnes of TNT (2.5 TJ) | 13 km (8 mi) | No material from meteorite found
Photographed boloid body. [6] |
| February 5, 1967 | Vilna, Alberta | 600 tonnes of TNT (2.5 TJ) | 13 km (8 mi) | Two very small fragments found - 48 milligrams (0.0017 oz) and 94 milligrams (0.0033 oz). Stored at University of Alberta, in Edmonton.[7]
Photographed [8] |
| September 22, 1979 | Southern Indian Ocean | 2 kilotonnes of TNT (8.4 TJ) | This controversial and assumed explosion over the Indian Ocean was named the Vela Incident, having been detected by an American Vela Hotel satellite (6911). That high-altitude sentry satellite carried several physics instruments designed specifically to detect nuclear explosions.
Three possible causes emerged over the several years following the event: 1) a secret nuclear test, likely by South Africa or Israel; 2) an asteroid or meteorite impact; or 3) spurious instrumentation noise on board the satellite. Despite numerous sweeps by special USAF radiation detection aircraft, no airborne nuclear contaminants were detected. |
|
| January 19, 1993 | Lugo, Northern Italy | >10 kilotonnes of TNT (42 TJ) | ||
| January 18, 1994 | Cando, Spain | |||
| December 9, 1997 | 150 km South of Nuuk, Greenland, at | >0.064 kilotonnes of TNT (0.27 TJ) | >25 km (16 mi) | One airburst at 46 km, three more breakups detected between 25 and 30 km. No remains found so far. Yield only based on luminosity, i.e. the total energy might have been considerably larger.[9] |
| June 6, 2002 | Eastern Mediterranean Event over the Mediterranean Sea between Libya and Greece | 26 kilotonnes of TNT (110 TJ) | ||
| September 25, 2002 | Bodaybo, Russia | 0.5–5 kilotonnes of TNT (2.1–21 TJ) |