Russian scientists have been scrutinizing a remote Siberian lake in search of “cosmic matter” that proves that a meteor caused the famous Tunguska explosion in 1908, an event that some blame for an extraterrestrial intervention.
The Tunguska event mysteriously devastated 2,000 square kilometers of land in Siberia. And although more than 30 theories and hypotheses about what happened are handled, the most popular of all says that the explosion was caused by a meteor that exploded about 8 kilometers from touching the surface.
However, there has never been evidence of any space rock in the area, which has led to questioning the official explanation. Other theories include a volcanic eruption, a comet made mostly of ice, a mini black hole colliding with the Earth, and the intervention of an extraterrestrial race that fired a gun and removed an asteroid or comet before it hit the surface and caused more damage.
Local Evanki residents believe it was the visit of a furious god named Ogdy.
Researchers taking samples from the lake.
Anyway, now an expedition is trying to find evidence in Lake Zapovednoye and thus prove that the official theory is correct. Although no deposits have been located, researchers have found sediments related to the moment immediately after the explosion, about 40 kilometers from the epicenter.
The witnesses of that time described the scene as “the sky opening in two” and the consequence was 80 million trees annihilated, but without any crater.
The forest razed by the explosion of the Tunguska meteorite.
“The mystery of the Tunguska catastrophe worries both scientists and the public,” said biologist Dr Arthur Meidus, deputy director of a nearby nature reserve, told Siberian Times. «We discovered a layer of sediments of a distinctive light color in the sediments of Lake Zapovednoye».
The contents of the sediment layer – potassium, titanium, rubidium, yttrium and zirconium – allowed it to be linked to the consequences of the Tunguska explosion.
“In this way we know which sediment layer can contain particles of extraterrestrial origin,” added Meidus.
The next stage of the investigation will consist of the precise search for microparticles of spatial origin in the sediments dated by radiocarbon. In the process, the X-ray fluorescence technique and synchrotron radiation will be applied to identify the elements and measure their concentrations up to millionths of a percentage.
“The meteorite is not here as a physical body but the traces of an extremely powerful explosion are, which is what we are studying. Many of us hope to unravel what happened on that June 30, 1908, ”he concluded.
Tunguska today.
Scientists from the Novosibirsk Institute of Nuclear Physics, the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, the Tunguska Nature Reserve, and the Krasnoyarsk Institute of Biophysics, are involved in the research.
Testimonials
“There was an explosion in the sky and a powerful clash. The crash was followed by a noise like stones falling from the sky, or guns firing. The earth shook, ”recalls a native Siberian located 60 km from the epicenter.
It looked like Armageddon. Everything became so hot that I couldn’t stand it, my shirt was burning, ”said another witness. «I wanted to tear it off and throw it away, and then the sky closed. A loud blow sounded and I was thrown several meters into the air “.
The explosion caused shock waves as far away as Britain, and in the following days a series of strange phenomena were seen over the European sky, such as silvery and bright clouds, colorful sunsets and an unusual glow at night.
From the first Soviet expeditions in the remote region of Siberia, the disconcerting aspect was the lack of debris or craters on the surface. The Italian scientist Luca Gasperini, from the University of Bologna, believes Lake Cheki, 8 km from the epicenter, is the missing link. However, his theory has been questioned by Russian scientists.
Some believe that the weapon of an extraterrestrial civilization destroyed a large meteor before its impact on Earth. It has also been suggested that what actually exploded was a spaceship.
The researchers predict that by studying the sediments they will be able to establish unequivocally that what Tunguska was the explosion of a meteor in the atmosphere, and that lessons about what happened will help deal with future incursions of space rocks to our planet.
Source: Siberian Times/Daily Mail.
