I don't think that being fascinated by extremely low-probability but dramatic possibilities has anything to do with autism. As you imply, people in general tend to do it, though being terrified about airplane crashes might be a better example.
I'd come up with an evolutionary explanation, but a meteor would probably fall on my head if I did that.
This is our monthly thread for collecting arbitrarily contrived scenarios in which somebody gets tortured for 3^^^^^3 years, or an infinite number of people experience an infinite amount of sorrow, or a baby gets eaten by a shark, etc. and which might be handy to link to in one of our discussions. As everyone knows, this is the most rational and non-obnoxious way to think about incentives and disincentives.