Earth survives the latest asteroid threat, but could there be another threat in space?

The so-called “doomsday asteroid" sped past the UK at 9.40am Thursday morning (12.40pm EAT), leaving our great nation and wider world intact.

Despite the dire warnings of crackpots and conspiracy theorists, the 270-metre Asteroid 2012 TT5 zoomed past the planet at a distance of 5 million miles.

After passing Britain, it then headed towards Paris, where it also failed to bring about the apocalypse.

NASA confirmed Asteroid 2012 TT5 now passed during a Twitter exchange with a woman who admitted she was "freaked out" by end of the world rumours.

The American space agency warned the world to keep an eye out for more tangible dangers than the massive space rock circling up in the heavens.

But social media is still gripped with fear, after space gazers began to circulate pictures of a bright light shining out in space.

Luckily, there's a clear explanation for this mystery object: it's probably Venus.

On its Asteroid Watch Twitter account (@AsteroidWatch), NASA reassured people who feared the mystery light was the harbinger of human extinction after this exchange.

Throughout the past few months, the poor soul manning the Asteroid Watch Twitter account has been forced to deal with huge numbers of panicked people.

Internet rumours have consistently suggested the apocalypse was nigh, prompting terror among the world's more credulous souls.

Now NASA's Twitter has become a lightning rod for the fears of people who really should spend less time online.