1: Tunguska Event The meteor that flew through the earth's atmosphere in 1908 over Siberia exploded just a few miles from the Siberian surface. The explosion had the force of an atomic bomb and flattened some 800 square miles of trees. It took years for scientists to begin investigating in the remote, unpopulated area; one hundred years later, they're still looking for conclusive evidence of a strike, in the form of a crater or meteor fragments. Some now believe a nearby lake may conceal a crater. And recently, some decidedly stranger theories on Tunguska have popped up, with one claiming an alien spaceship destroyed the earth-bound comet just before it hit in an attempt to spare our planet destruction. Huh. Special Honorable Mention: KT Extinction meteorite You know, it's the asteroid that may have killed the dinosaurs… and over half off all the species on the planet. Scientists aren't 100 percent sure that an asteroid caused the so-called "K-T Extinction", but they have some good reasons to believe that the culprit came from outer space. Most of the soil deposited during the time of the extinction (known as the K-T layer) has an awful lot of Iridium in it, something that isn't so common on earth, but it sure is on asteroids. Scientists figure sometime around 65 million years ago, the earth was hit by one or more Iridium-filled meteors or comets, triggering atmospheric dust and widespread climate change. And where did this massive meteorite hit? No one's sure, but some researchers believe a crater on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico may mark the spot. More Top 10s
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