I am seriously considering having this topic be my Master Thesis for Geology. I currently hold to the belief of an exploding rocky asteroid.
Will you be willing and able to travel to Siberia? Or will you do the research from here?
But the death ray and angry thunder god Ogdy are so much cooler. I rather do my degree on a death ray, personally.
Why not something else?
Have you read “The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes”, written by Firestone, West, and Warwick-Smith?
Their book presents evidence concerning a supernova (Geminga, in the Gemini constellation) that occurred 40,000 years ago, and how its blast has effected our planet ever since. The cover is tacky but hey, what matters is inside. The reviews on Amazon.com are consistently positive but beware! This is a science book with lots of graphs and technical data presented.
I have a great article on this event, the possibilities, and let me know if you want me to send it to you.