If you're wondering why everyone is so freaked out over the coronavirus when the world is coming to an end next month, you're not alone. Stories about Asteroid 52768 colliding with Earth on April 29th have been turning up all over the Internet. The doomsday reports even feature confirmation from NASA officials.
It turns out several elements of the story are true, according to Snopes.com. Asteroid 52768 is real; it's headed in Earth's direction; it will arrive on April 29th; and, being 2.5 miles wide, it could easily wipe out life as we know it. The only thing is it isn't expected to collide with Earth.
NASA officials tell Snopes the large space chunk won't even come within 3.9 million miles of the planet. That's about 16 times the distance between Earth and the moon.