The asteroid is said to be on a "near-collision" course with the planet but is expected to miss direct impact by about 2.8 million miles.

2008 G020 has apparently threatened our planet before: according to TMZ's report, the asteroid came within 1 million miles of Earth when it passed us in 1901.

In June of last year asteroid 2002 NN4 (a rock the size of NYC's Empire State Building) passed by Earth; it was followed by a mysterious object dubbed "2020 SO" (15-33 ft width) came within 31,605 miles of the planet.

Again, it's hard to say for sure if these near-death experiences for planet Earth are just a cosmic roulette game with increasingly long odds for our collective survival - or, they're just normal occurrences of space exploration now getting more attention thanks to tabloids and social media trends.