The Tunguska Event and the Meteors with Terminal Flares

The comparison of the Tunguska body explosion with the effect of terminal flares of meteors and fireballs leads to the conclusion that these events are of a similar nature but differ only by their scale. It is considered that the dynamics of progressive breaking and evaporation of meteoric bodies during their entry into the terrestrial atmosphere could explain the terminal burst. An extremely porous body model for the Tunguska meteorite was analyzed and rejected as unsatisfactory. The realistic values of the initial velocity (about 30 km/sec) and of the inclination angle for the Tunguska's trajectory (5-15 deg) give orbital elements not in contradiction with the cometary origin of the Tunguska body.