# A stony asteroid some 50–80 m across that broke up and exploded about 8.5 km up.

> Most likely: A stony asteroid some 50–80 m across that broke up and exploded about 8.5 km up.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/tunguska-event/answers/ANS0D4ECBZR58RW/a-stony-asteroid-some-5080-m-across-that-broke-up-and  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

---

[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[1908 Tunguska event](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/tunguska-event)[What kind of body, if any, caused the Tunguska explosion?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/tunguska-event/questions/QST0D4ECARP6DFM/what-kind-of-body-if-any-caused-the-tunguska-explosion)Answer

Answer · 1908 Tunguska event

# A stony asteroid some 50–80 m across that broke up and exploded about 8.5 km up.

A stony asteroid some 50–80 m across that broke up and exploded about 8.5 km up.

**Most likely** Answers **1** questionPublished0

## Where it stands

**Most likely** Its tests supported it: three pieces of evidence for, one against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- Entry models for stony bodies reproduce the burst height and energy.
- Microscopic remnants have chondritic composition.
- Surviving stronger fragments lie in a strewn field down-range.

## What would rule it out

- A recovered fragment of iron or cometary composition, or a demonstration that no stony body can burst at that height with that energy.

## Evidence 3 for · 1 against

[Entry models put the disruption of a stony body of this size at about the observed height.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/tunguska-event/evidence/EVD0D4ECC7J58ME/entry-models-put-the-disruption-of-a-stony-body-of-this-size)

Supported

FOR

[Hydrocode simulations reproduce the tree fall with rocky bodies over a wide range of parameters.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/tunguska-event/evidence/EVD0D4ECCQ66VAN/hydrocode-simulations-reproduce-the-tree-fall-with-rocky)

Supported

FOR

[Orbital statistics favour an asteroidal origin.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/tunguska-event/evidence/EVD0D4ECCFC2E5B/orbital-statistics-favour-an-asteroidal-origin)

Suggestive

FOR

[No macroscopic fragment has been found in a century of searches.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/tunguska-event/evidence/EVD0D4ECCZ06RE8/no-macroscopic-fragment-has-been-found-in-a-century-of)

Established

AGAINST

## The questions it answers

[What kind of body, if any, caused the Tunguska explosion?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/tunguska-event/questions/QST0D4ECARP6DFM/what-kind-of-body-if-any-caused-the-tunguska-explosion)

Most likelyA stony asteroid some 50–80 m across that broke up and exploded about 8.5 km up

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). A stony asteroid some 50–80 m across that broke up and exploded about 8.5 km up. [Answer ANS0D4ECBZR58RW]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0D4ECBZR58RW
```

Key

**ANS** 0D4ECBZR58RW

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Origin

Published

Version

1

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

Every record is open data. Take this one as JSON, with its links and its history.

[JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/api/v1/records/ANS0D4ECBZR58RW)