Extinction 65 mya - new data

["Terry Colvin" <colvint@fhu.disa.mil>]

[I think Terry is cross-pollinating from another list.  Don't be
 surprised that you don't recognize the quoted material.  -- MR ]

Date: 1 Aug 1996 08:25:35 GMT
From: MCH <milesh1@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Best response to incoming planetary threat?

> Of course if you shatter the asteroid, you will get an impressive
> meteor shower. You might even get some local damage here and there
> by some chunks, but the damage could be small.

Even if the whole thing is pulverized into pebble size,
and a large number of the pebbles flashes into the atmosphere
at about the same time, you get the "sky on fire" syndrome -
the radiant heat of the millions of small meteors ignites
everything combustible on the surface of the earth!  They
think similar thing happened after the Yucatan thing hit - the
sub-orbital debris fell back, incinerated, and the radiant heat
torched the continents worldwide.  You just can't win ...