2002 Eastern Mediterranean event

The 2002 Eastern Mediterranean Event was a high-energy upper atmosphere explosion over the Mediterranean Sea, around 34°N 21°E (between Libya and Crete) on June 6, 2002. This explosion, similar in power to a small atomic bomb, has been related to a small asteroid undetected while approaching Earth. The object disintegrated in an air burst impact and no meteorite fragments were recovered. The air burst occurred over the sea.

The event occurred during the 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff, and there were concerns by General Simon Worden of the U.S. Air Force that if the upper atmosphere explosion had occurred closer to Pakistan or India, it could have sparked a nuclear war between the two countries.

See also 
 Impact event
 List of meteor air bursts
 Near-Earth object
 Potentially hazardous asteroid
 Vela incident

References 

Category:Explosions in 2002
Category:2002 natural disasters
Category:Modern Earth impact events
Category:Eastern Mediterranean
Category:History of the Mediterranean
Category:June 2002 events in Africa