The night-walkers of Uganda

Big blasts or tiny tugs
Level 1
Elementary
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Some psychologists think this kind of news
should be kept secret, to prevent public panic.
In December 2004, for example, scientists
calculated that if Apophis did hit, it would land
somewhere on a line between central Europe,
the Middle East, the Ganges River valley (the
most populated district on Earth), and the
Philippines. At the time, the information was kept
secret, and many NEO scientists agreed it was
the right thing to do.
But Clark Chapman, a US planetary scientist,
says many social science experts are against
secrecy. They do not think that that the public
would immediately panic about a possible
danger. But the news must be given carefully,
or people might misunderstand. Then they
might become unnecessarily frightened, stop
believing official statements and ignore important 
warnings.
Footnotes
Near-Earth objects
Comets and asteroids that start to circle very
near the Earth. Most NEOs are made of ice and
dust, or are bits of rock from the asteroid area
between Jupiter and Mars.
Outside chance
Astronomers discovered Apophis in June 2004.
In December 2004, they started to worry. When
they calculated its future path, they thought it
was very likely to hit the Earth in 2029. When
the asteroid passes the Earth again on April 13
2029, the Earth will probably affect it, and change
its orbit. But if that change makes Apophis pass
through a particular area in space, called “the
keyhole”, it will crash into the Earth next time it
passes, in 2036. But now they think Apophis is
very unlikely to pass through the keyhole, a very
small area of space just 600 metres wide. The
possibility is only 1 in 5,500.
Dark skies 
Scientists have calculated the effects of an
enormous asteroid crash by imagining what
would happen during a big nuclear war.