THE MYSTERY OF THE TUNGUSKA FIREBALL SURENDRA VERMA THE TUNGUSKA FIREBALL THE TUNGUSKA FIREBALL Solving One of the Great Mysteries of the 20th Century SURENDRA VERMA ICON BOOKS Published in the UK in 2005 by Icon Books Ltd, The Old Dairy, Brook Road, Thriplow, Cambridge SG8 7RG e-mail:
[email protected] www.iconbooks.co.uk Sold in the UK, Europe, South Africa and Asia by Faber and Faber Ltd, 3 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AU or their agents Distributed in the UK, Europe, South Africa and Asia by TBS Ltd, Frating Distribution Centre, Colchester Road, Frating Green, Colchester CO7 7DW Published in Australia in 2005 by Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd, PO Box 8500, 83 Alexander Street, Crows Nest, NSW 2065 Distributed in Canada by Penguin Books Canada, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario M4V 3B2 ISBN 1 84046 620 0 Text copyright © 2005 Surendra Verma The author has asserted his moral rights No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, without prior permission in writing from the publisher Typesetting by Hands Fotoset Printed and bound in the UK by Clays of Bungay CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii INTRODUCTION ix CHAPTER ONE: FIRE IN THE SKY 1 CHAPTER TWO: THE CASE OF A MISSING METEORITE 19 CHAPTER THREE: THE TALE OF A FIERY COMET 57 CHAPTER FOUR: ASTEROIDS BEHAVING BADLY 79 CHAPTER FIVE: TRACELESS TUNGUSKA 105 CHAPTER SIX: THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY OF A BLACK HOLE 122 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE MATTER IN QUESTION 134 CHAPTER EIGHT: A BLAST FROM BELOW 154 CHAPTER NINE: OPENING THE X-FILES 173 CHAPTER TEN: A FIREBALL IN THE DINOSAURS’ SKY 202 CHAPTER ELEVEN: WHODUNIT? 240 TIMELINE: ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AN ENIGMA 251 SOURCES AND FURTHER READING 258 INDEX 267 v Surendra Verma is a science writer based in Melbourne, Australia since 1970.