NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and even a Christian pastor have identified a gigantic asteroid that could hit Earth on a Friday the 13th. According to data gathered by the agencies, the massive space rock is almost as big as the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

After its discovery in June 2004, the asteroid known as 2004 MN4 or Apophis has been the center of speculations due to earlier predictions indicating that it will strike Earth on April 13, 2029, a date which falls on a Friday the 13th.

Some of these predictions came from NASA’s Near Earth Object Program, which calculated that the asteroid’s chances of hitting Earth on the specified date was one in 60. The ESA also previously noted that the probability of an impact event happening in 2029 due to 2004 MN4 was 2.7%.

Aside from these major space agencies, some religious leaders also believed that the asteroid will hit Earth on April 13, 2029 and will trigger the end of the world. This includes evangelical Christian preacher Paul Begley of Lafayette, Indiana. According to Begley, if the asteroid doesn’t strike Earth on the specified date, it will do so once it returns in 2036, Express reported.

Since the asteroid spans 1,050 feet long, it is possible that a direct hit from 2004 MN4 could have Earth-ending consequences.

Fortunately, both NASA and the ESA have clarified that Earth is not in danger of suffering a major impact event caused by 2004 MN4 in 2029. This was confirmed through the agencies’ follow-up studies and observations on the asteroid and its trajectory.

“Although Apophis initially caught public interest as a possible Earth impactor, which is now considered highly improbably for the foreseeable future, it is of considerable interest in its own right, and as an example of the class of near-Earth objects,” Goral Pilbratt of ESA said in a statement.

Although the asteroid will not collide with Earth, the space agencies noted that it will fly very close to the planet in 2029. It has been estimated that 2004 MN4 will approach the planet from a distance of only 18,600 miles.

NASA asteroid impact
An illustration shows an asteroid impacting Earth in circumstances similar to the asteroid strike that killed the dinosaurs and plunged the world into darkness. NASA/NCAR
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