The Tunguska Event

On the morning of 30 June 1908, at 7:17 am local time, a blinding light was accompanied by an explosion of tremendous force at Tunguska, in Central Siberia. The light was so intense that it was visible 700 kilometers away (435 miles). It had the appearance of a column of fire with a bluish tinge, and left a trail of a bluish streak along its entire path.

The blast was so powerful that baromicrographs, sensitive to atmospheric pressure, recorded the event as far away as Western Europe, North America, and other distant countries. The shock wave traveled around the world twice as seismographs, used for recording earthquakes, registered the event around the globe. The blast was so powerful that people heard it 1,000 kilometers away (620 miles). The series of air waves displayed four maxima within twenty minutes. Four thunder claps and crashes were described by the local people, the Tungus.

The blast devastated an area of about 2,000 square kilometers (770 square miles) of dense Siberian virgin forest (Yenissi Taiga). Trees were torn up by the roots and in places were piled up in thick layers pointing away from the center (see Plate 21). The devastation covered a radius of 30 to 40 kilometers (20 to 25 miles), and the fire from the blast scarred trees for 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the center. Somehow, the central area was devastated with the exception of a ring of upright trees near the center. Ever since that day, what actually took place has been a matter of deep controversy without any completely satisfactory explanation.

The effects of the event on the people and wildlife confirm its awesome power. A local trader 60 kilometers (37 miles) away from the event describes his experience:

"I was sitting on my porch facing north when suddenly, to the northwest, there appeared a great flash of light. There was so much heat that I was no longer able to remain where I was. My shirt almost burned off my back. I saw a huge fireball that covered an enormous part of the sky. I only had a moment to note the size of it. Afterward it became dark and at the same time I felt an explosion that threw me several feet from the porch. I lost consciousness for a few moments and when I came to I heard a noise that shook the whole house and nearly moved it off its foundation. The glass and the framing of the house shattered and in the middle of the area where the hut stands a strip of ground split apart."

It is important to note that this description reveals an explosion that rendered the man unconscious. Then when he comes to, he experiences a second explosion. Obviously, this was not an impacting body, because no such time delay would occur if it split into pieces.

Another account says that everyone was in a tent still asleep when "the people were suddenly flung into the air." Hundreds of reindeer, owned by the Tungus, disappeared and others were found as burnt remains. Some people had storehouses, goods and other objects completely destroyed.

As could be predicted from the new model of the Earth, much about Tunguska is comparable to a nuclear explosion. One scientist states, "the cloud afterward was exactly like an atomic mushroom cloud." Meteors only case minor magnetic disturbances, but the Tunguska event caused a major disturbance, like what occurs after atmospheric nuclear explosions. A local magnetic storm began about six minutes after the explosion and lasted more than four hours. These observations resemble those that follow nuclear explosions. Had it been a bolide the magnetic disturbance would have begun as it entered the atmosphere. Nuclear explosions generate nitric oxide, nitrates and disturb climate, and so did the Tunguska event.

Pressure and suction waves were experienced by observers. A pressure wave broke windows inward followed by a suction wave that sucked clods of dirt out of the ground and hurled an iron stove door across a room. Ionizing radiation after a blast would cause a vacuum, producing a suction, but a meteor would not.

The blast was so strong that it was recorded on a seismograph 5,215 kilometers (3,240 miles) away, at Jena. Like a nuclear explosion, the center of the site was 1.5 to 2 times higher in radioactivity than 30 to 40 kilometers away (20 to 25 miles). Mutations at the site were evident, trees doubled and tripled in height, and increased in life expectancy by 2 to 2.5 times. Radioactive elements were found in greater quantities at the center of the site. Natives tell us that the blast had "brought with it a disease for the reindeer, specifically scabs, that had never appeared before the fire came." Likewise, "gray patches" and blisters appeared on cattle after the 1945 New Mexico nuclear test.

Tektites or spherules of iron, magnetite, nickel and silicates were also found. Similar objects are discovered after nuclear explosions. Meteoritic dust was found far from the epicenter, which some claim is due to its explosion in flight. However, this does not explain the succession of crashes heard. The estimated heat energy indicates a nuclear, not a chemical reaction. The Tunguska event has even been compared to a 6,000 megaton nuclear war. An author comments on the energy released: "All of the estimates are independent of one another and show one fact: the radiant energy of the Tunguska explosion comprised several tens of percent of the total energy. But this correlation between the parameters is characteristic only of nuclear explosions." No one in the world had nuclear devices in 1908, particularly in Siberia.

After uncovering some of the other evidence, the discussion continues.

Many eyewitness accounts do not give one the impression that Tunguska was hit by a meteor or comet. The event produced a very bright light in the form of what was described as a pipe or cylinder. Such pipe shapes are not typical of meteorites nor meteors. Yet, "the fire-pillar was seen by many people." The event left no smoky trail like most fireballs, but rather scintillating bands that looked like a rainbow or an aurora.

The phenomenon was so bright that those nearby had to cover their eyes, and it was visible at Vitim, 608 kilometers (377 miles), and Bodaibo, 764 kilometers (474 miles), away. These far away sightings are not typical of a meteor in flight. One scientist collecting eyewitness accounts comments: "The explosion was observed from many points in the form of a vertical fountain." Such a description sounds more like the release of energy from the Earth than an impact, because no comet or meteor would fall vertically, and would, in fact, be closer to horizontal, and would not be described as a fountain.

There was a notable geomagnetic disturbance that was more like what accompanied the huge volcanic explosion of Krakatoa. Some described a subterranean crash and roar followed five to seven minutes later by a second louder than the first, and finally, a third crash. However, only one luminous phenomena was observed, and if the objection split into three, the pieces would not be delayed by such long intervals, nor described as subterranean. In a quote that still remains timely, a Russian scientist comments: "the nature of the phenomenon that could produce such a special explosion is still obscure."

Again, after revealing more of the evidence the discussion continues.

Other evidence confirms the presence of ionizing radiation. Nitric oxide was produced in the atmosphere, and climate was affected by its presence. There were reports of a black rain, typical of carbon and hydrocarbon precipitation. Carbon and hydrocarbons are known to be produced by ionizing radiation, such as in a nuclear explosion. No metal, with the possible exception of local native iron, was ever found in the region. This observation, the waves and folds in the region's earth, and other facts are unlike any known meteor impact. Burned and unburned parts of the area, as well as the burned and unburned parts of the same tree indicate a "radiant burn" unlike any meteor or comet fireball.

Furthermore, any radiation should not have been measurable after two decades under normal circumstances. The radiation would have been released into the atmosphere with very little reaching the Earth, and it would have dissipated easily and quickly had it been a comet or meteor. Meanwhile, two decades after the event the region was still 1.5 to 2 times higher in radioactivity than the surrounding environs.

What was found in the area was described as "brilliant native iron," but a meteor or comet (the two most proposed theories) are neither brilliant nor native.

Another indication of this is that the event was only noted when it was near the ground. Meteors or comets would have been noticed at the time they first entered the atmosphere. Descriptions were unlike these objects, being referred to as a "fountain", "pipe", "pillar" or "tube." Eyewitness accounts and scientific articles say it was a single object. Yet, there were three subterranean crashes, and four plain maximums in air pressure. Meteors are observed at night, but the Tunguska event took place in the early morning, indicating that if it was a meteor or comet, a much greater speed than is typical or even possible for such objects. Calculations indicate a very low density as well: "It also implies that the Tunguska object was quite unusual in having a very low equivalent density."

The discussion continues after other facts are addressed.

Due to the estimates of its speed and density, a comet or comet fragment has been proposed. However, the density does not match that of either a comet nucleus or tail. No comets with the appropriate orbit are known either. Furthermore, comet matter is too fragile to survive long enough to reach so close to ground level, and the other data on comets do not fit many of the facts about the Tunguska event. The skyglows were not characteristic of a comet, nor even a single object, since one object could not distribute so evenly.

The proposed theories of a small black hole, antimatter, and such have all been discarded. The fact that these theories even surfaced is testimony to the fact that this event was unlike a meteor or comet impact. Yet, the theory that it is an impact continually reappears in the literature, reflecting the training of scientists who recover what they have been taught. There is a focus in science that everything can be explained by mass, matter and gravity (Newtonian or Classical physics).