NASA Asteroid Warning: 'God Of Chaos' Apophis Could 'Wipe Out Entire City'

A giant asteroid which measures more than 1,000 feet and could wipe out the multiple cities, will make a flyby near Earth in the next decade.

Asteroid 99942 Apophis that was detected 15 years ago will reportedly swing past Earth by April 13, 2029 at a distance that is similar to that of an orbiting satellite and closer than the Moon. The asteroid, which measures 1,110 feet wide, orbits the Sun and could potentially intercept the Earth’s orbit and smash into the planet’s surface.

Scientists said that most asteroids that pass by Earth are not more than 30 feet wide. Named after Apophis, the Egyptian God of Chaos, this larger-than-usual asteroid will be visible to the naked eye as it flies past the United States in the early evening of April 13, 2029.

NASA will take the rare opportunity to study for the first time the surface details and interior of the asteroid using its optical and radar telescope.

“Scientists at NASA say that if an asteroid is about 300 feet wide it could wipe out an entire city here on Earth,” Michele Greenstein of RT America said. “This one is over 1,000 feet wide.”

With its size, Apophis could potentially wipe out multiple cities if it crashes into the Earth, but there is only a two percent chance that the asteroid will touch the ground. Additional observations also led scientists to conclude that it would not hit the Earth or the Moon.

Though there is an only slim chance that it would hit Earth, NASA’s Planetary Defense scientists are already preparing for a possible asteroid impact with its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. This is a planetary defense mission that is set to hit a non-invasive asteroid and try to deflect it by the year 2022.

Apophis was discovered in 2004 and set the highest record of reaching level 4 in December 2004, based on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale, a method categorizing hazards associated with near-Earth objects (NEO).