Asteroids and a possible destruction of Earth because of an impact have been making headlines because of the blood moon prophecy being floated across the web by conspiracy theorists.

Just when reports of an impact were subsiding comes a confirmation from NASA that an asteroid dubbed 86666 (2000 FL10) will zoom past Earth this month and in the process will cross Moon’s orbit. The asteroid is believed to be somewhere around 1.6 to 2 miles wide and is hurtling towards Earth at speed of 40,000 miles per hour, NASA has revealed. The asteroid was spotted some 5925 days ago or 16 years ago and has been classified as a near Earth object.

NASA is yet to work out the exact dimensions of the asteroid, but it is estimated to be between 0.7miles long and 1.6 miles wide and is not going to impact Earth. However, NASA does added that it is more than 15 times bigger than other asteroids currently on its radar.

The asteroid dwarfs 2014-YB35 and if it would have have impacted Earth, it would have not only caused a huge crater, but would have caused billions of pounds worth of damage. The impact would have also cause deaths in huge numbers – humans and animals alike. However, an impact is highly unlikely as the asteroid’s passage has been labelled a ‘near-Earth event’ with 86666 being several million miles away.

While NASA and ESA are preparing for an asteroid deflector system, such a technology is still atleast a few years away and while conspiracy theorists are busy contemplating destruction of Earth through an asteroid, there are those in the scientific community who believe that the dangers of an asteroid impact are real and that we should be prepared for such an event in near future.