According to the International Astronomical Union, the object that recently caused havoc outside of Moscow is a METEOROID. Meteorites are typically much smaller and portions of a larger meteor that has broken into pieces when it hits the atmosphere.

From Wikipedia:
In 1961, the International Astronomical Union defined a meteoroid as "a solid object moving in interplanetary space, of a size considerably smaller than an asteroid and considerably larger than an atom".[2][3] In 1995, Beech and Steel, writing in Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, proposed a new definition where a meteoroid would be between 100 µm and 10 meters across.[4] Following the discovery of asteroids below 10 m in size, Rubin and Grossman refined the Beech and Steel definition of meteoroid to objects between 10 µm and 1 m in diameter.[5] The smallest asteroid (based on absolute magnitude) is 2008 TS26 with an absolute magnitude of 33.2,[6] and an estimated size of 1-meter.[7] Objects smaller than meteoroids are classified as micrometeoroids and cosmic dust. The Minor Planet Center does not use the term "meteoroid"

As this recent object is larger than 1 meter in size, it may well qualify as a full fledged METEOR, but that has yet to be determined upon it's full excavation and examination.

Thank you for your input, a meteoroid like a hemorrhoid both can cause pain. :oops:

Just a thought, I'm wondering why we haven't yet commissioned a group of nations to think about how we'd alter the course of a future mass headed for our planet. We'd better be doing something before it may be too late to change the course of an impact or to have the capabilities to break one up into smaller pieces. It's something serious to think about.

It's been done. I think Bruce Willis was in the movie. Can't remember the name of the movie right now. Or maybe it was the Clint Eastwood movie. Doesn't matter because the equipment needed will be banned. I'm just glad I didn't sell my photon torpedo on ebay. Do I need to register it? :roll: :thumbup:

That was a fiction movie made in Hollywood. NASA and other space agencies are actually considering other means to deflect large meteors to avoid catastrophy, and it's not with wildcat drillers or aging astronauts. :thumbup:

It appears those idea's are light years away. It concerns my thoughts as to why no one knew of the coming of the one that came down in Russia. Can you just wonder what would have happened if it would have come do in the middle of a major city, why there would have been trmendous confusion and what not all going on.

From the HubbleSite Reference Desk:

"Most of us probably have seen meteors or shooting stars. A meteor is the flash of light that we see in the night sky when a small chunk of interplanetary debris burns up as it passes through our atmosphere. "Meteor" refers to the flash of light caused by the debris, not the debris itself.

The debris is called a meteoroid. A meteoroid is a piece of interplanetary matter that is smaller than a kilometer and frequently only millimeters in size. Most meteoroids that enter the Earth's atmosphere are so small that they vaporize completely and never reach the planet's surface.

If any part of a meteoroid survives the fall through the atmosphere and lands on Earth, it is called a meteorite. Although the vast majority of meteorites are very small, their size can range from about a fraction of a gram (the size of a pebble) to 100 kilograms (220 lbs) or more (the size of a huge, life-destroying boulder)."

So, it isn't so much the size of the object as it is the physical location of the object, that determines what it is called.

Ok, enough with facts. Let's get the conspiracy theories going. They're more fun. Since the "meteor" we see is a meteoroid burning up by friction as it passes into our atmosphere why does this object light up at such a low level and explode mid-air instead of on impact as a solid piece? Looking closely at some of the photos there is a trail of smoke then it seems to ignite. I can hear the music from the X-Files in my head. :shock: