Dandy wrote:
Hmmmm - 50 feet are about 16.6666 meters - there have been reports about smaller objects that reached the ground.
I can remember a report from some years ago, where an solid object smashed the luggage compartment of a car (in NY, IIRC).
The object had about the size of an tennis ball when they found it. IIRC, it was mentioned that the initial size was about one meter in diameter.
So I think the composition and speed of the object matter as well...
Statistically, a 50 foot asteroid would disintergrate before reaching the ground. Almost 80% of asteroids are carbonaceous, which have little resistance to the riggors of re-entry (if you see what I mean). However, a small proportion (less than 10%) are metallic bodies, which do have a better survival rate and may land on the Earth as meteorites. Most meteorites we find are silicaceous (rocky), which account for around 15% of asteroids. The approach speed of asteroids is typically 20,000 mph or more, so speed isn't really a variable in the equation. The objects we find on Earth are of course a small fraction of their original size.
JaX
