A rare type of meteor can explode with the force of a cannonball and leave survivors
While most meteors burn up harmlessly, massive fireballs can compress the atmosphere into glowing plasma and survive their high-speed descent to strike the Earth with the explosive force of a cannonball.
Most meteors disintegrate into dust, but rare fireballs weighing up to one ton can survive the journey through Earth's atmosphere. These cosmic objects enter at staggering speeds of 30 to 70 kilometers per second, compressing the air in front of them to create plasma that glows at 5,000 degrees Celsius.
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