Tungusta Today?

[Crossroads Inc.]

(and yes, I'm sure thats spelt wrong)

But many of us remember the story that far off in Sibera around 1907, "Something" with the force of several atom bombs went off in the upper atmosphere and leveled hundreds of miles of forrests.

This is really about all most of us know.

Recently I tried to find the area today using "Google Earth" though much of Sibera isn't at that great of detail, and it's hard trying to actually pinpoint the area. Does anyone know more of this event? Was there an actual crater left behind? Has anyone postualized on what the heck happend more then 100 years ago?

[Darth Wong]

Most astrophysicists conclude that it was some sort of small comet or meteor which exploded low over the ground after heating up to a tremendous degree during entry into our atmosphere. It wouldn't leave much of a landmark a hundred years later.

[Vanas]

Didn't all the expedition that went there a decade or so later find only broken trees at the site, and very few tiny pieces of debris? I've seen a more recent picture of the area, and it's pretty much reforested now.

[SirNitram]

There was apparently almost no debris, and the trees were flattened, not merely broken; it very much resembled an airbursted nuke.

The best guesses involve cosmic debris.. Probably a comet.. Entering the atmosphere and exploding above the site. A comet is the likely one, as it would leave almost no debris. But still, that's a big bang. Had to have been going at quite a clip.

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

[conspiracy theorist] Oh no guys, it was an extra-terrestrial nuclear-powered starship which crashed into the Earth. [conspiracy theorist]

You know what the scary part is? That wasn't from some nutjob's site referencing trips to Zeta Reticuli. It was from a book.

[SirNitram]

[conspiracy theorist] Oh no guys, it was an extra-terrestrial nuclear-powered starship which crashed into the Earth. [conspiracy theorist]

You know what the scary part is? That wasn't from some nutjob's site referencing trips to Zeta Reticuli. It was from a book.

Nutjobs write books. I've read a nice thick volume on the Philedelphia Experiment. It was amusing.

And it was, by the by, the watered-down version which says it was merely a teleportation device, not a time-tunnel used by invading aliens. But it does profess that the teleportation technology was used in a variety of military operations since WW2, and used to create a moonbase.

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

[conspiracy theorist] Oh no guys, it was an extra-terrestrial nuclear-powered starship which crashed into the Earth. [conspiracy theorist]

You know what the scary part is? That wasn't from some nutjob's site referencing trips to Zeta Reticuli. It was from a book.

Nutjobs write books. I've read a nice thick volume on the Philedelphia Experiment. It was amusing.

And it was, by the by, the watered-down version which says it was merely a teleportation device, not a time-tunnel used by invading aliens. But it does profess that the teleportation technology was used in a variety of military operations since WW2, and used to create a moonbase.

Yes, but this book, unlike such nonsense like Chariots of the Gods?(the rather infamous book about aliens influencing Ancient Meso-Americans and Egyptians for fuck-all reasons) or Unexplained Animals (about how Bigfoot and Nessie are psychic aberrations created by mass conciousness or perhaps Alien ghosts) was more or less reputable throughout, until it threw out that one doozie.

[Molyneux]

Most astrophysicists conclude that it was some sort of small comet or meteor which exploded low over the ground after heating up to a tremendous degree during entry into our atmosphere. It wouldn't leave much of a landmark a hundred years later.

I have heard the hypothesis that it was an extremely small black hole which reached Hawking mass and detonated above Tunguska...dunno how plausible that is, but it's definitely moreso than, say, the alien spacecraft detonation idea.

Of course, it could always have been caused by Tesla's Death Ray test-firing...

[Admiral Valdemar]

Nutjobs write books. I've read a nice thick volume on the Philedelphia Experiment. It was amusing.

And it was, by the by, the watered-down version which says it was merely a teleportation device, not a time-tunnel used by invading aliens. But it does profess that the teleportation technology was used in a variety of military operations since WW2, and used to create a moonbase.

You're thinking of the Montauk Project which was supposedly about a chair that was hooked up to some doohickey that enabled a tunnel to open across time and space. That was something I read up on after I, too, got a nice book on the Philadelphia Experiment (although it wasn't under the "fiction" category).

Tunguska also created a nice detonation pattern which, if memory serves, resembled a butterfly shape.

[SirNitram]

Nutjobs write books. I've read a nice thick volume on the Philedelphia Experiment. It was amusing.

And it was, by the by, the watered-down version which says it was merely a teleportation device, not a time-tunnel used by invading aliens. But it does profess that the teleportation technology was used in a variety of military operations since WW2, and used to create a moonbase.

You're thinking of the Montauk Project which was supposedly about a chair that was hooked up to some doohickey that enabled a tunnel to open across time and space. That was something I read up on after I, too, got a nice book on the Philadelphia Experiment (although it wasn't under the "fiction" category).

Tunguska also created a nice detonation pattern which, if memory serves, resembled a butterfly shape.

The screed I heard said Montuak was the other end of the tunnel through time, which connected to the Philedelphia event. Then again, it was convulted and badly written.

[Sea Skimmer]

(and yes, I'm sure thats spelt wrong)

But many of us remember the story that far off in Sibera around 1907, "Something" with the force of several atom bombs went off in the upper atmosphere and leveled hundreds of miles of forrests.

Depends on what you consider to be an atomic bomb, the yield was equivalent to a 10-15 megaton nuke, nothing special for the 1950's-60's high yield era.

This is really about all most of us know.

Recently I tried to find the area today using "Google Earth" though much of Sibera isn't at that great of detail, and it's hard trying to actually pinpoint the area. Does anyone know more of this event? Was there an actual crater left behind? Has anyone postualized on what the heck happend more then 100 years ago?

There was no crater because whatever hit, exploded high above the earths surface. The center of the burst was identified, because a cluster of trees remained standing upright under it, only with all branches and bark stripped away. All the trees for a wide radius, around 25km, around that cluster got smashed flat. Today there is nothing left that you could expect to see from even a high resolution satellite photo. After near 100 years I don't think you'd even find all the rotting tree trunks though I could be mistaken on that.

[Darth Wong]

Most astrophysicists conclude that it was some sort of small comet or meteor which exploded low over the ground after heating up to a tremendous degree during entry into our atmosphere. It wouldn't leave much of a landmark a hundred years later.

I have heard the hypothesis that it was an extremely small black hole which reached Hawking mass and detonated above Tunguska...dunno how plausible that is, but it's definitely moreso than, say, the alien spacecraft detonation idea.

Of course, it could always have been caused by Tesla's Death Ray test-firing...

Or we could adopt the logic of creationists and say that since we cannot prove any of our theories about what it was, then it must have been the Power of God. Much like smelly farts in the car when no one will admit to passing wind. Once again, you have only theories about what caused the smell and no proof, so the stench must have been the Power of the Lord.

[Cao Cao]

It was obviously Emperor Xenu's flagship, the deep space capable 747 "L-Ron" that was shot down by secret U.S. government time travellers using the spaceship that crashed in Roswell along with the device used in the Philadelphia Experiment!

Go on! Prove me wrong!

*dons tin foil hat*

[Sea Skimmer]

What’s really funny about the Tunguska blast is that one of the ‘explanations’ that it was a nuclear explosion onboard an alien spacecraft, was written as a fictional story by a Russian academic. When it reached the west it then got taken seriously by less learned people.

[The Prime Necromancer]

All of you are wrong, it was an interdimensional cross-rip. Oh, and it actually happened in 1909; all of the sources claiming it happened in '08 are part of a massive conspiracy. It says so right here in my copy of Tobin's Spirit Guide.

[Winston Blake]

Tunguska also created a nice detonation pattern which, if memory serves, resembled a butterfly shape.

IIRC it was this pattern which was strong evidence that it was a meteorite impact. I watched a documentary on it ages ago, and i think i remember them talking about a small model of the forest that was built. Varying explosive charges were dropped down a line at varying angles/speeds/heights until they found an exact same butterfly-shaped pattern. The model even had a small clump of 'trees' still standing in the centre, just like real life.

[Crossroads Inc.]

All of you are wrong, it was an interdimensional cross-rip. Oh, and it actually happened in 1909; all of the sources claiming it happened in '08 are part of a massive conspiracy. It says so right here in my copy of Tobin's Spirit Guide.

I thought that was just a Ghostbusters gag?

[The Prime Necromancer]

All of you are wrong, it was an interdimensional cross-rip. Oh, and it actually happened in 1909; all of the sources claiming it happened in '08 are part of a massive conspiracy. It says so right here in my copy of Tobin's Spirit Guide.

I thought that was just a Ghostbusters gag?

That's just what the anti-paranormal establishment wants you to think.

[LongVin]

[conspiracy theorist] Oh no guys, it was an extra-terrestrial nuclear-powered starship which crashed into the Earth. [conspiracy theorist]

You know what the scary part is? That wasn't from some nutjob's site referencing trips to Zeta Reticuli. It was from a book.

Theres also one conspiracy that says a single molecue of anti matter entered into the Earths atmosphere and made contact with matter there.

[Winston Blake]

[conspiracy theorist] Oh no guys, it was an extra-terrestrial nuclear-powered starship which crashed into the Earth. [conspiracy theorist]

You know what the scary part is? That wasn't from some nutjob's site referencing trips to Zeta Reticuli. It was from a book.

Theres also one conspiracy that says a single molecue of anti matter entered into the Earths atmosphere and made contact with matter there.

That's an easy one to counter, even at 100% efficiency you'd need 350 grams of antimatter to make a 15 megaton bang. That's one heavy molecule.

[Molyneux]

Most astrophysicists conclude that it was some sort of small comet or meteor which exploded low over the ground after heating up to a tremendous degree during entry into our atmosphere. It wouldn't leave much of a landmark a hundred years later.

I have heard the hypothesis that it was an extremely small black hole which reached Hawking mass and detonated above Tunguska...dunno how plausible that is, but it's definitely moreso than, say, the alien spacecraft detonation idea.

Of course, it could always have been caused by Tesla's Death Ray test-firing...

Or we could adopt the logic of creationists and say that since we cannot prove any of our theories about what it was, then it must have been the Power of God. Much like smelly farts in the car when no one will admit to passing wind. Once again, you have only theories about what caused the smell and no proof, so the stench must have been the Power of the Lord.

Wait...so you're saying that God farted and caused the Tunguska explosion?

[Hamel]

I'm partial to the theory of Tesla's death ray being responsible for the explosion. That man is the Chuck Norris of theoretical science.

[Molyneux]

I'm partial to the theory of Tesla's death ray being responsible for the explosion. That man is the Chuck Norris of theoretical science.

It's unlikely, but it does make for good stories...you may want to check out "Callahan's Key" by Spider Robinson. The Tunguska = Death Ray idea features prominently in that, and Tesla is a cool character in that book.

[Elheru Aran]

[conspiracy theorist] Oh no guys, it was an extra-terrestrial nuclear-powered starship which crashed into the Earth. [conspiracy theorist]

You know what the scary part is? That wasn't from some nutjob's site referencing trips to Zeta Reticuli. It was from a book.

Theres also one conspiracy that says a single molecue of anti matter entered into the Earths atmosphere and made contact with matter there.

That's an easy one to counter, even at 100% efficiency you'd need 350 grams of antimatter to make a 15 megaton bang. That's one heavy molecule.

Plus there's the tricky proposition of atmosphere being matter...