Tunguska, A Century Later

Science News ^ | 6-5-2008 | Sid Perkins

[blam]

Tunguska, a century later

By Sid PerkinsJune 5th, 2008

Asteroid or comet blamed for Siberian blast of 1908

BLAST FROM THE PAST

The Tunguska blast shook Siberia in 1908, but on-site investigations were delayed for two decades. One of the first photos showed a large area of flattened trees.

Early on the morning of June 30, 1908, a massive explosion shook central Siberia. Witnesses told of a fireball that streaked in from the southeast and then detonated in the sky above the desolate, forested region. At the nearest trading post, about 70 kilometers away from the blast, people were reportedly knocked from their feet. Seismic instruments in the area registered ground motions equivalent to those of a magnitude-5 earthquake.

Effects of the event—often called the Tunguska blast, after a major river running through the area—weren’t restricted to Siberia. Sensitive barometers in England detected an atmospheric shock wave as it raced westward and then detected it again after it traveled around the world. High-altitude clouds that formed over the region after the event were so lofty that they caught light from beyond the horizon, illuminating the sky so much that people at locales in Europe and Asia could read newspapers outdoors at midnight.

A number of factors—including the site’s remote location, World War I and the Russian Revolution—prevented scientists from mounting an expedition to the blast zone for almost two decades, says physicist Giuseppe Longo of the University of Bologna in Italy. When researchers eventually reached the region, they found that a 2,150-square-kilometer patch of forest had been flattened, with most of the 80 million trees lying in a radial pattern. What the researchers didn’t find, however, was an obvious crater.

[blam]

When interviewed, many of the Natives that witnessed the Tunguska incident claim to have ‘heard’ it before they looked and saw it streaming in the sky.

[blam]

"So Blam - what do you believe was the cause?"

A 'fluffy' meteor.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Blam.

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[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

:') While in college I read that book "The Fire Came By", and there are some interesting details, quite a few in fact, worth tracking down and reading for those; but I'd say the case for an ET spacecraft with engine trouble is weak. ;') In one of his books (which are waaaaay out there, credulous in the extreme, but also pretty fun) David Hatcher Childress attributes the Tunguska event to Nicola Tesla's having fired up the Wardenclyffe Tower; the trouble with that one I believe is that the dates don't match. (':

Google

[Monkey Face]

Never play with blasting caps in the forest!

[Hegemony Cricket]

About 25 years ago, I saw a relatively large meteor (or space debris) hit the atmosphere at what must have been a fairly low angle, because of how slowly it moved across the sky. As it burned up and fragmented, I could hear a quiet roaring sound, much like the flame of a gas stove or a propane torch. Pretty cool - wish I had it on tape...

[JamesP81]

I actually saw a meteor break up at relatively low altitude about a month ago. Without a frame of reference, I couldn't tell you how high it was or how large the meteor was, but my instincts tell me it was fairly large. Unlike most meteors which which appear as a white pinprick racing across the sky, this one came in slow at a fairly flat trajectory. And instead of a white pinprick, it was a glowing greenish ball. Once it got about halfway across the sky, it broke up into about 4 fragments. I only saw it by chance because I happened to be looking out my back door. Didn't hear any sound, but wouldn't expect to while inside.

It was pretty weird though. I had no idea what in the hell it was until I'd had a few seconds to think about it. At first, I thought maybe that WW3 had started and the Russians or the Chinese had decided to drop an ICBM on the gaseous diffusion plant I live a mile away from.

[null and void]

NICE .... think we could schedule one again for this year?

This year's disaster is scheduled for November.

[null and void]

Seriously?

It’s the difference between being hit by a kid on a bike, and a freight train.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

Hillary’s campaign crashing and burning?

[null and void]

Ummmmm. The explanation made even less sense than the post it was explaining.

May I recommend coffee?

[null and void]

Oh wait. Post 11, not 12.

*nevermind*

(still on my first cup)...

[aomagrat]

Tesla did it!

I read that somewhere, can't remember where.

[dfwgator]

Too bad it didn’t take out Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky.

[null and void]

Once, about 20 years ago, my dad, brother & I were out watching a meteor shower in the back yard. We saw a large streak go across the sky, and then explode in a shower of sparks that lit up the sky and ground. To say it was awesome is an understatement. Even though it was probably 10 miles high in the atmosphere, I could have sworn I heard a hissing sound as it went across the sky and then a “pop” as it exploded. But I knew that could not be so; the sound would need many seconds to travel that distance. This seems to provide an explanation.

I heard one 'sizzle' so loudly and clearly that I said as much to the people around me. Followed with "...of course I know that's impossible, but..."

[null and void]

*shrug* They wouldn’t let me play with them in the house...

[henkster]

My event sounded like a hiss, you guys described “sizzle” or sound like a propane stove. What I heard would fit those descriptions as well. The explosion was not a boom or bang, but sounded instead like a “pop,” kind of like the sound a bottle rocket makes. With so many accounts of this phenomenon, there must be something to it. The funny thing is, as I recall now, the sensation was as much “felt” as “heard.”

[blam]

"I heard one 'sizzle' so loudly and clearly that I said as much to the people around me. Followed with "...of course I know that's impossible, but..." "

Eskimos claim to be able to hear the Northern Lights...the most sensative instruments measures zero sound/noise though.

[SunkenCiv]

Y’know, this impact knocked down millions of trees... could we be witnessing a new technique for the Asian lumbering industry? ;’)