I didn't say "equal to" a nuclear bomb, but "like" a nuclear bomb. It's a matter of quality, not quantity. The energy released would be quite larger than if you took a tungsten rod and simply dropped it from 100 feet. Make that distance greater, give it enough time to maximum velocity, and you have a LOT more energy release.
You see similar energy bursts when a small bullet, say 125 grains, is fired at 1,500 feet per second against a gelatin block. 125 grains is not a lot of weight by itself, but speed it up to high velocity from a firearm and watch what it does to a gelatin block. Now think of an aerodynamically shaped tungsten rod weighing in at a few hundred pounds traveling at the speed of sound or better. BOOM!
I didn't say "equal to" a nuclear bomb, but "like" a nuclear bomb. It's a matter of quality, not quantity. The energy released would be quite larger than if you took a tungsten rod and simply dropped it from 100 feet. Make that distance greater, give it enough time to maximum velocity, and you have a LOT more energy release.
You see similar energy bursts when a small bullet, say 125 grains, is fired at 1,500 feet per second against a gelatin block. 125 grains is not a lot of weight by itself, but speed it up to high velocity from a firearm and watch what it does to a gelatin block. Now think of an aerodynamically shaped tungsten rod weighing in at a few hundred pounds traveling at the speed of sound or better. BOOM!