Galactic Encounters, Apollo Objects, and Atlantis

[shijing]

Just wanted to make a note that I recently ran across an essay by Emilio Spedicato which can be downloaded as a PDF here. From the summary:

Recent findings about interactions of the Earth with extraterrestrial bodies, particularly comets and Apollo-like objects, are reviewed, with special attention to climatological effects. We discuss the hypothesis that the last glaciation was started by a collision over a continent and was terminated by a collision over an ocean. We propose that during the glaciation sufficiently good climatic conditions in the lower latitudes made possible for mankind to develop a high level of civilization. The Platonic story of Atlantis is interpreted as an essentially correct description of a political power active in the final period of the last glaciation. Arguments are given to identify the island of Atlantis with Hispaniola. The catastrophe which destroyed the Atlantis civilization is identified with the oceanic collision which terminated the glaciation. In this framework we also propose a new interpretation of the flood stories of the Bible and in the Gilgamesh epics, and of the origin of the Camunian civilization.

While there are some errors and false assumptions at various places, there are several parts of this that seem to be on the right track, or are at least good supplements to the research already done here. Spedicato is particularly influenced by Victor Clube, and there is good discussion about the cosmic conditions under which the Earth finds itself in peril from impacts with extraterrestrial bodies, as well as the climatic conditions that would ensue in the case of an impact, depending on whether it was land-based or sea-based. He also provides a very nice account about what the living conditions would have been like during the last ice age. Finally, his list of references seems to be quite valuable in its own right. The paper is only 54 pages long (including bibliography), so it won't require a particularly large amount of time to read.

 

[cholas]

What a good find. Very much looking forward to reading this.

Thanks shijing.