An Asteroid Hits the Earth

Abstract

Imagine living in Flagstaff, Arizona, the day that Meteor Crater was made. A blinding flash of light in the eastern sky startles you; you look toward it. There is a billowing cloud of debris rising into the stratosphere and mushrooming out. But you don’t hear anything. Like a scene in a silent movie, the events 45 miles away seem somewhat detached, as in a dream. Three minutes and a few seconds later, the illusion is shattered with a glass-breaking thunderclap. Then a low rumble goes on and on, and the ground trembles.