I heard the same from Charles Osgood on the radio this morning, and it seemed
unlikely. I think that much energy over a 5 minute period would have removed
our atmosphere and fair amounts of flesh. So, hit the web, and the answer is:
http://wwwssl.msfc.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast29sep98_2.htm
> Kevin Hurley at University of California-Berkeley has used satellite
> information to calculate the total energy ...
> ... it would be enough to power all of human civilization on Earth for a
> billion billion years. Of course, only a tiny fraction of this energy
> reached Earth.
More discussion at:
http://wwwssl.msfc.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast29sep98_1.htm
Cheers,
Wayne