Your alignment can be slightly altered by extremely heavy driving...which probably equates the force put on it such as that of hitting the hard object you speak about.

If someone collided with your front wheel (no damage to fender? why would your wheel just be turned and hit something?) anyway, it would be messed up. you'd have to get new upper/lower links, the subframe, axle, blah blah blah...

happened to me once. or twice.