A meteor air burst is a type of air burst in which a meteoroid explodes after entering a planetary body's atmosphere. This fate leads them to be called fireballs or bolides, with the brightest air bursts known as superbolides. Such meteoroids were originally asteroids and comets of a few to several tens of meters in diameter. This separates them from the much smaller and far more common "shooting stars", that usually burn up quickly upon atmospheric entry.
The most powerful meteor air burst in the modern era was the 1908 Tunguska event. During this event a stony meteoroid about 50–60 m (160–200 ft) in size[1][2]: p. 178 exploded at an altitude of 5–10 km (16,000–33,000 ft) over a sparsely populated forest in Siberia. The resulting shock wave flattened an estimated 80 million trees over a 2,150 km2 (830 sq mi) area, and may have killed 3 people.[1][3][4][5][6]
Extremely bright fireballs traveling across the sky are often witnessed from a distance, such as the 1947 Sikhote-Alin meteor and the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor, both over Russia. If the bolide is large enough fragments may survive, as from both such meteorites. Modern developments in infrasound detection by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization and infrared Defense Support Program satellite technology have increased the likelihood of detecting airbursts.