RyanX
The Living Force
This weekend I picked up a used book at a library sale titled The Comet Book - A Guide For the Return of Halley's Comet by Robert D. Chapman and John C Brandt published in 1984. As guessed from the title, the book is about the upcoming sighting of Haley's Comet, which I vaguely recall observing as a youngster at that time.
In any case, the book presents a lot of good introductory material about comets and even presents some ideas not so well discussed in mainstream science. For instance, it mentions Hoyle's and Crick's hypothesis of panspermia via comets as well as some early allusions to electrical models of the solar system.
What caught my attention in this book was a section on "Stories and Legends". Within this section there is mention of the Great Comet of 1812. This made me think back to Laura's article titled Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets: Damages, Disasters, Injuries, Deaths, and Very Close Calls. Could this be another possible disaster to add to the list? Here is the excerpt from the book:
After reading this I decided to do a little digging to see if there was any collaborating evidence that these events of 1811-1812 may have a common origin stemming from the Great Comet or associated extra-planetary happenings. One of the first hits to come up was this article:
_http://www.datasync.com/~rsf1/1811.htm
This article discusses the possibility that the New Madrid Earthquake of 1811 may be related to the Great Comet of that year. Most of the article focuses on the possibility of finding an impact zone related to these events. The evidence seems inconclusive, but based on what I've read, this may be an incorrect approach to understanding the historical data since comets do have the tenancy to explode in the atmosphere causing much havoc on the ground. In fact, there appears to be eyewitness testimony from people who lived through this event of a falling charcoal-like substance as well as visible undulations of the earth itself.
_http://www.showme.net/~fkeller/quake/lib/eyewitness1.htm
This evidence may imply an overhead explosion of sorts, which could have also set off some of the earthquakes in this region, perhaps initially?
Another point that should be made is the reference to human conflict during this time period. Obviously the War of 1812 between the American republic and the British stands out as one example. Another would be Napoleon's march into Russia and his eventual defeat during an abnormally cold winter. A quote within the link above states, "As Napoleon marched into Russia with an army of seven hundred thousand strong, the Great Comet [of 1811] developed a tail one hundred million miles long. Following initial victories Napoleon overextended himself. After the invasion of Moscow he ran short of supplies and the winter proved unforgiving. Hundreds of thousands died while the comet performed frightening acrobatics by splitting in two." This may go along with Victor Clube's analysis of the association between comets and turbulence within human civilization.
In any case, the book presents a lot of good introductory material about comets and even presents some ideas not so well discussed in mainstream science. For instance, it mentions Hoyle's and Crick's hypothesis of panspermia via comets as well as some early allusions to electrical models of the solar system.
What caught my attention in this book was a section on "Stories and Legends". Within this section there is mention of the Great Comet of 1812. This made me think back to Laura's article titled Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets: Damages, Disasters, Injuries, Deaths, and Very Close Calls. Could this be another possible disaster to add to the list? Here is the excerpt from the book:
After reading this I decided to do a little digging to see if there was any collaborating evidence that these events of 1811-1812 may have a common origin stemming from the Great Comet or associated extra-planetary happenings. One of the first hits to come up was this article:
_http://www.datasync.com/~rsf1/1811.htm
This article discusses the possibility that the New Madrid Earthquake of 1811 may be related to the Great Comet of that year. Most of the article focuses on the possibility of finding an impact zone related to these events. The evidence seems inconclusive, but based on what I've read, this may be an incorrect approach to understanding the historical data since comets do have the tenancy to explode in the atmosphere causing much havoc on the ground. In fact, there appears to be eyewitness testimony from people who lived through this event of a falling charcoal-like substance as well as visible undulations of the earth itself.
_http://www.showme.net/~fkeller/quake/lib/eyewitness1.htm
This evidence may imply an overhead explosion of sorts, which could have also set off some of the earthquakes in this region, perhaps initially?
Another point that should be made is the reference to human conflict during this time period. Obviously the War of 1812 between the American republic and the British stands out as one example. Another would be Napoleon's march into Russia and his eventual defeat during an abnormally cold winter. A quote within the link above states, "As Napoleon marched into Russia with an army of seven hundred thousand strong, the Great Comet [of 1811] developed a tail one hundred million miles long. Following initial victories Napoleon overextended himself. After the invasion of Moscow he ran short of supplies and the winter proved unforgiving. Hundreds of thousands died while the comet performed frightening acrobatics by splitting in two." This may go along with Victor Clube's analysis of the association between comets and turbulence within human civilization.
