About The Tunguska Explosion
 
 

At 7.17 am on the morning of 30 June 1908, a tremendous explosion destroyed an estimated 40,000 trees in the Tunguska region of central Siberia and devestated an area of some seventy kilometres radius from the focus point of the bason of the River Podkamennaya Tunguska. The force of the explosion is believed to be about 15 mega tons. The resultant shock waves were detected in various points around the world, including England, Germany, Washington, Jakarta and many others. Shock waves had been recorded moving at 323 metres per second, even faster than the 314 metres per second that had been recorded following the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in August 1883.

In northern Siberia the night of 30 June to 01 July was known as the White Night because of glowing silver clouds reported by many. In fact night skies did not return to normal until August. In London it was possible to read clearly at midnight and other reports from around the British Isles indicated similar phenomena. Photographs could be taken at midnight in Europe without the aid of flash lighting.

There has been much specualtion since 1908 as to the cause of the explosion. Suggested explanations include:

* A crashing extraterrestrial vehicle

* The impact of a black hole

* The impact of anti-matter

* The impact of a meteorite

* The impact of a comet
 

The later two explainations are widely believed by expert opinion to be the two most likely causes. In 1993, calculations from computer simulations of the tree damage by a group of American scientists suggested that the UFO was a stony asteroid about 130 feet (40 metres) in diameter, travelling at 15km per second.

Back