All those "5 meteorites to pass by Earth this month" title makers never hit earth.
And those that hit earth don't seem to make any news before they strike.
And those that hit earth don't seem to make any news before they strike.
100% of all meteorites hit the Earth, by definition.
I think you mean “meteor”.
I'd like to know if someone else knows other variations
Asteroid: rock in space
Meteor: asteroid in atmosphere (falling generally)
Meteorite: meteor which touched ground
Aerolite: rock in atmosphere (be it flying, falling, levitating or otherwise)
Comet: Icyspace rock, comma and ejecta are not strictly necessary
Tunguska-size impacts are roughly 1x century.
Distributions are pretty much random. God may or may not play dice with the Universe, but the Univers plays dice with Earth.