100 years ago today in Tunguska, Siberia something happened.

[Pedronicus]

The Tunguska Event

Arthur C Clarke, Tunguska Event TV Program from the eighties

[GabonX]

It is a very interesting piece of history indeed. The article would have you believe that we know what caused the event, that it was a giant rock from outer space when in reality scientists have no idea. If it were a meteor or an asteroid there would have been a crater in the center, but instead the center is the only place where trees were left standing. This event is one of the great mysteries of our time..Don't let DaGip see this...

[strike wolf]

While I admit that I don't know much about this other than what the article said. It doesn't sound like a single meteorite. All I have to say that it is very interesting.

[DAZMCFC]

beware of the year 2036. the end is nigh, well 28 years away if that hits us.

[GabonX]

The article is very misleading as it makes it sound like scientists agree on what caused the event. There are many theories ranging from an electrical experiment gone wrong to a piece of anti matter which hit the Earth but nobody actually knows. It really could not have been a meteor as this would have left a huge crater.

[InkL0sed]

The article is very misleading as it makes it sound like scientists agree on what caused the event. There are many theories ranging from an electrical experiment gone wrong to a piece of anti matter which hit the Earth but nobody actually knows. It really could not have been a meteor as this would have left a huge crater.

Wiki article says it burst in the air, so it technically wasn't an impact.

[GabonX]

As great as Wikipedia is it isn't an authority on anything. It's well known that this is a great mystery and as much as people want to rationalize it there is not a universally accepted cause of this event. Also, I haven't heard of any mineral deposites in and around the area which would have been left if it were a meteor which broke up. Such findings would shut the book on this but there have been no such findings.

[InkL0sed]

As great as Wikipedia is it isn't an authority on anything. It's well known that this is a great mystery and as much as people want to rationalize it there is not a universally accepted cause of this event. Also, I haven't heard of any mineral deposites in and around the area which would have been left if it were a meteor which broke up. Such findings would shut the book on this but there have been no such findings.

Well if it's so well known, give us some credible sites to back it up.

Wikipedia in the meantime has about 30 sources.

[muy_thaiguy]

As great as Wikipedia is it isn't an authority on anything. It's well known that this is a great mystery and as much as people want to rationalize it there is not a universally accepted cause of this event. Also, I haven't heard of any mineral deposites in and around the area which would have been left if it were a meteor which broke up. Such findings would shut the book on this but there have been no such findings.

Well if it's so well known, give us some credible sites to back it up.

Wikipedia in the meantime has about 30 sources.

It is well known, actually. And instead of wikipedia, how about going to the sites referenced on wikipedia themselves?

[InkL0sed]

As great as Wikipedia is it isn't an authority on anything. It's well known that this is a great mystery and as much as people want to rationalize it there is not a universally accepted cause of this event. Also, I haven't heard of any mineral deposites in and around the area which would have been left if it were a meteor which broke up. Such findings would shut the book on this but there have been no such findings.

Well if it's so well known, give us some credible sites to back it up.

Wikipedia in the meantime has about 30 sources.

It is well known, actually. And instead of wikipedia, how about going to the sites referenced on wikipedia themselves?

Exactly what I've been doing the past 10 minutes. Give me a second to read 30 articles.

[muy_thaiguy]

As great as Wikipedia is it isn't an authority on anything. It's well known that this is a great mystery and as much as people want to rationalize it there is not a universally accepted cause of this event. Also, I haven't heard of any mineral deposites in and around the area which would have been left if it were a meteor which broke up. Such findings would shut the book on this but there have been no such findings.

Well if it's so well known, give us some credible sites to back it up.

Wikipedia in the meantime has about 30 sources.

It is well known, actually. And instead of wikipedia, how about going to the sites referenced on wikipedia themselves?

Exactly what I've been doing the past 10 minutes. Give me a second to read 30 articles.

NEVA!

[GabonX]

Wow, I just visited the wikipedia article and on it they suggest 5 DIFFERENT THEORIES as to what happened. I'll give you that it states that a meteor is the most likely cause but the book is far from closed on this one.

[Snorri1234]

When something happens in Tunguska, Siberia, nothing happens, it's just another russian dead.

[InkL0sed]

When something happens in Tunguska, Siberia, nothing happens, it's just another russian dead.

I think you mean "If a meteor falls in Tunguska, Siberia, does it really?"

[Pedronicus]

here is the link to part 1 of 3 from you tube regarding Arthur C Clarkes Mysterious world

Tunguska

[tzor]

I thought it was an asteroid, not a meteor. It could also have been a Comet. (Or Cupid, or Donner, or Blitzen.)

[InkL0sed]

I'll tell you one thing, I don't see how it could possibly not be a comet, meteorite, or asteroid.

[PLAYER57832]

As great as Wikipedia is it isn't an authority on anything. It's well known that this is a great mystery and as much as people want to rationalize it there is not a universally accepted cause of this event. Also, I haven't heard of any mineral deposites in and around the area which would have been left if it were a meteor which broke up. Such findings would shut the book on this but there have been no such findings.

Well if it's so well known, give us some credible sites to back it up.

Wikipedia in the meantime has about 30 sources.

It is well known, actually. And instead of wikipedia, how about going to the sites referenced on wikipedia themselves?

Going to the originals is better,

BUT keep in mind that numbers of articles do not necessarily indicate credibility, particularly nowadays. ONE credible, (verifiable, from scientists known to use standard methodologies, who publish their methods for critique, who have undergone peer review, etc.) source will outweigh 100 garbage articles.

[tzor]

I'll tell you one thing, I don't see how it could possibly not be a comet, meteorite, or asteroid.

It's been a while since I have researched the event, but everything I read about it seemed consistent with a large atmospheric explosion in the megaton range. The blast pattern matches such explosions precisely. If you have a comet which was mostly water ice, you might not even be able to detect the solid material that was scattered in the blast. Even larger fragments might be easily hidden many decades later.

Of course this happened long before we started droppng megaton bombs in the air. So at the time it was a mystery.

[Pedronicus]

But I don't understand why a meteor / comet / heavenly body explodes in the air, rather than slamming into the ground.
I'm no scientist, but why the air burst, instead of an impact?

[kletka]

It was the last time my civilisation visited our base here on Earth

[tzor]

But I don't understand why a meteor / comet / heavenly body explodes in the air, rather than slamming into the ground.
I'm no scientist, but why the air burst, instead of an impact?

A comet is basically a big object of dirty ice. rentry puts a lot of heat stress on an object. Most metals will simply go molten since they are good heat conductors, but water ice is actually a good insulator so the stresses on the comet from the heat gradients can cause the object to massively break up, much like an ice cube can suddenly explode with a crack sometimes in liquid. Of course since the object is traveling at supersonic speeds a significant change to its aerodynamics will cause such breakups to explode violently.

Sort of like the space shuttle.

[Minister Masket]

I've got one word to say to you, just one word:

Aliens

[InkL0sed]

I've got one word to say to you, just one word:

Aliens

What? Whose wife?

PS. No, you don't get this joke, unless you know Latin and are on my wavelength...

[demon7896]

every year an explosion the size of an hiroshima a bomb occurs. in our atmosphere, caused by small meteorties converting to energy. this is what happened at tungska(at least im pretty sure)