the most famous meteor to crash into the Earth occurred in 1908. It hit region in present-day northern Russia. Because the meteor strike happened in the last century, it could be closely examined by scientists. The Tunguska. event was a gigantic explosion in northern Siberia on June 30, 1908. Either a comet or meteor, about 5-10 kilometers wide, approached the Earth. But for some reason, the comet or meteor exploded above the Earth's surface. The explosion caused over 80 million trees to fall over. Some people heard the explosion over 65 kilometers away. The impact knocked many people from their chairs. Many mentioned a "strong wind" suddenly blowing. As a result of these two events, the U.S. space agency NASA is trying to predict the path of each comet, meteor or asteroid. Then they could see if any are likely to hit the Earth. shooting star a meteor racing across the sky the impact of a meteor or an explosion crater a very huge hole in the ground caused by has died out ninf ig ely gone or Glossary