Tunguska, 1908

On June 30 1908, in a remote region of Siberia near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River, something exploded above the Earth levelling an estimated 80 million trees in a 2,000-kilometre radius. Over a hundred years has passed since the explosion, and a definitive answer as to what constituted the event has been elusive. The most common theory regarding the “Tunguska Event” concerns a burst of air caused by an exploding meteor, asteroid or comet at least 5 kilometres above the surface of the Earth – a theory determined by the available evidence. The energy from the event was estimated to be 1,000 times greater than that recorded from the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 - approximately 10-15 megatons. Eyewitnesses to the event were few, with most reporting the sound of the explosion and subsequent tremors. People hundreds of miles away reportedly were knocked to the ground by the force of the ‘impact’. Others saw the sky “split in two” as fire and a massive windstorm ripped across the surrounding area.

In 1921, Russian mineralogist Leonid Kulik led the first recorded expedition to the Tunguska region to investigate the event. Having accepted from local reports that the incident was caused by the impact of a massive meteor, Kulik was surprised at what he found. For there was no impact crater, only a huge area of scorched trees with some in the epicentre that were still standing. Further away, trees were levelled away from the epicentre, lending credence to the theory that an explosion above the Earth had sent an air blast down and horizontally outward. Subsequent expeditions revealed mineral and metal deposits in greater prevalence in comparison to their natural occurrence in the area, meaning that something extraterrestrial had fallen to Earth.

Many theories have of course been expounded in relation to the Tunguska event. A hypothesis put forward in 1973 by two physicists at the University of Texas, made the claim that the event was caused by a small black hole passing through the Earth. However, for this theory to hold water (so to speak), an ‘exit point’ must be determined and discovered at an opposing position on the globe – somewhere in the middle of the North Atlantic. In 2007, scientists from the University of Bologna in Italy made the claim that a lake discovered in the Tunguska region – Lake Cheko - was a possible impact point of the event. Whilst agreeing that the explosion happened above the Earth’s surface, they maintain that a fragment of the meteor/asteroid/whatever did in fact hit the Earth and that the lake has formed over the last century. Certain investigations have lent support to the idea, and a one-metre piece of rock was apparently found at the bottom of the lake via magnetic readings.

A few weeks ago, Yuri Labvin, head of the Tunguska Spatial Phenomenon Foundation, released a statement saying that the explosion was caused by an alien craft intercepting an incoming meteorite or asteroid. Labvin explains that the alien craft destroyed the approaching object by crashing into it and in the process, saved mankind from a cataclysmic event. Labvin has said that pieces of quartz inscribed with ‘strange markings’ were found in the area, and are currently being examined by experts. According to Labvin, these quartz fragments are remnants of the alien craft. However, this crazy theory is subject to any of these supposed pieces of quartz being produced or at the very least, photographed and shown to a sceptical world.

by Max Drake
(Freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)


For more information on Tunguska visit: http://www-th.bo.infn.it/tunguska/

The Nazca Lines

High on an arid plateau in Peru, some 300 figures and geometric shapes are etched into the sand. The Nazca desert, south of Lima, is home to one of the most enduring mysteries of South America. Commonly called the Nazca Lines, these impressive ancient artworks were first discovered when commercial airplanes began to fly over the region. They cover an area that stretches over 400 square miles and their creation has been the subject of many weird and wonderful theories.

Perhaps the most famous of the Nazca Lines is the so-called “Astronaut” (see below). First discovered in 1982, it has led to the notion that these designs were created by an extraterrestrial intelligence. Other figures include animals and birds, a weird figure with two hands (one with five fingers and the other with four), symbols, and various objects. The creations are attributed to the Nazca people who dwelt in the region some 2,000 years ago and mysteriously disappeared 500 years later. Yet it has been impossible to accurately estimate the actual age of the Lines.

For the Nazca desert retains conditions that have preserved the massive artworks over what could amount to many thousands of years. Annual rainfall is nominal, and the surface of the plateau is stony and flat – preventing disturbance to the Lines by wind. It is only now, after much exploration by modern man and the tourist attraction the region has become, are the Nazca Lines of Peru beginning to deteriorate.

by Max Drake
(Max is a freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)

For more on the Nazca Lines of Peru, visit: http://www.crystalinks.com/nazca406.html

MINDBOGGLING CROP CIRCLE

Mathematicians were confounded after a crop circle formation was discovered in a barley field near Barbury Castle in Wiltshire, England on the 1st June 2008. The circle is, apparently, a coded image representing the first ten digits of pi.


Measuring 285 feet in diameter, the formation had experts and enthusiasts perplexed until it was eventually identified by retired astrophysicist, Mike Reed.

Maths codes and geometric patterns have long been important factors in crop circle formations – the most famous of which was a formation in a field near Stonehenge some 12 years ago which depicted a complex set of fractals known as The Julia Set.

Yet despite the abundance of crop circle formations each year, their occurrence is rarely mentioned in the mainstream media, if at all. Most people still consider the crop circle phenomenon a hoax, regarding as proof the infamous TV demonstration many years ago of a circle being formed by a couple of guys with some rope and board. However, as most crop circle researchers attest, the most intricate geometric and mathematical formations (such as the recent pi formation in Wiltshire) would be impossible to create with such precise detail and on such a scale.

Other factors which should not be dismissed include the magnetic energy often recorded in the centre of crop circles and the biological changes that occur in the affected crops. These and many other factors cannot be explained by the ‘rope and board’ theory.

So what the hell are they? Who or what causes the formations to appear? Many theories have been extrapolated regarding crop circles, from electromagnetic fields to extraterrestrial meddling. Perhaps it is beam weaponry technology – maybe some bored NASA geeks using orbiting satellites fitted with invisible beam weapons are making their ‘hoax marks’ on the Earth’s surface.

Then again, maybe the extraterrestrial theory is more plausible.

by Max Drake


(Max Drake is a freelance designer for GritFX. Max has an interest in all things weird and will have weekly posts on this blog.)

---

For more on the crop circle phenomenon, including a more intricate explanation of the 1st June Wilshire formation, visit http://www.cropcircleconnector.com