Near-Earth object the largest explosion in recorded history, equivalent to 20,000 megatons of TNT. It attracted widespread attention because it was discovered only after the closest approach. In March 1998, early orbit calculations for recently discovered asteroid showed a potential 2028 close approach from the Earth, well within the orbit of the Moon, but with a large error margin allowing for a direct hit. Further data allowed a revision of the 2028 approach distance to , with no chance of collision. By that time, inaccurate reports of a potential impact had caused a media storm. From the late 1990s, a typical frame
Near-Earth object to the Earth was above the surface. It was captured by two all-sky cameras of the European Fireball Network, which for the first time enabled geometric calculations of the orbit of such a body. On March 18, 2004, LINEAR announced that a asteroid, 2004 FH, would pass the Earth that day at only , about one-tenth the distance to the Moon, and the closest miss ever noticed until then. They estimated that similar-sized asteroids come as close about every two years. On March 31, 2004, two weeks after 2004 FH, set a new record for closest recorded approach above the