Isn't this the kind of thing they say in all those disaster movies to lull the population and prevent a panic?
"There is no chance that this object will collide with the Earth or moon," Yeomans said.
[. . .]
Scientists suspect YU 55 has been visiting Earth for thousands of years, but because gravitational tugs from the planets occasionally tweak its path, they cannot tell for sure how long the asteroid has been in its present orbit.
"These sorts of events have been happening for most of the lifetime of the Earth, about 4.5 billion years," Fisher said.
Computer models showing the asteroid's path for the next 100 years show there is no chance it will hit Earth during that time, added Yeomans.
The "object" in question is an asteroid that is 1,312 feet in diameter and will pass within 210,000 miles from the planet (that's closer than the moon) at 6:28 p.m. EST Tuesday. Good lord! At least I will have voted by then, so I can go cower in the basement, just in case.
Oh, wait. It says "computer models" say the asteroid won't hit us. Never mind then. Computer models have been so accurate in the past. Nobody can call me an
