88 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 31: Jan-Feb 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Unidentified Phenomena September 17, 1982. South Atlantic Ocean. 2103 GMT on a clear dark night. "The first thing noticed was the formation of a bright patch of white light in the general area between Rasalhague and Alphecca. Gradually a dark eye formed in the centre of the patch in which shortly afterwards a very bright object appeared like a star of magnitude -2 . After one or two seconds this object appeared to undergo a tremendous explosion and became a large bright orange gaseous fireball, which appeared to be hurled earthwards directly down the observer's line of sight, growing constantly larger and larger. One witness described the fireball as resembling rolling orange smoke. The ball then ceased to increase in size, giving the impression that it had stopped. Its orange colour rapidly gave way to rainbow colours which gradually gave way to white and faded in brilliance until all that remained were several patches of luminous white light, although these were impressive in their own right." A similar phenomenon was noted the following night, although the ship was 7 farther south. September 18, 1982. South Atlantic Ocean. From a different ship in the same area as the one above. "The altitude of the first sighting was approximately 24 , level with the planet Jupiter and offset to its right. The six subsequent bursts were above the first, and slightly to the right, leaving a fantail of purple/white lenticular clouds which leaned ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf031/sf031p19.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 32: Mar-Apr 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Booms Startle Arkansas "A series of mysterious loud booms reported by residents of Hope, De Queen, Fulton, Mela, Ola, Baresville, Little Rock and other Arkansas cities will remain mysterious, at least for a while. Authorities are baffled about their source. "The noises, which have been described as sounding like an explosion, a sonic boom, a book falling off a shelf and a hand pounding on a wooden door, apparently have been occurring since the beginning of the recent cold weather. Inquiries have produced a number of theories and guesses but no plausible explanations." No supersonic aircraft could be implicated, so the most popular view was that the extreme cold weather caused house timbers to crack. (Anonymous; "Mysterious Booms Heard around State Baffle Authorities; Some Blame Ice Cold," Arkansas Gazette, December 24, 1983. Plus other Arkansas papers of December and January. Cr. L. Farish) Comment. If popping house timbers were the cause, similar reports would be expected from other states every winter. The Arkansas episode echoes the famous 1977-1978 series of booms heard all along the eastern coast of North America. These detonations also occurred during cold weather and were blamed, by some, on the Concorde SST. From Science Frontiers #32, MAR-APR 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf032/sf032p18.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 77: Sep-Oct 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Supernova Theory Exploded What happens when two white dwarf stars in close orbit finally fall into one another? Theory says you get a colossal explosion called a Type-I supernova. But this hypothesis is in trouble because a recent survey of white dwarfs revealed absolutely no double white dwarfs in a sampe of 25 from the Milky Way. Even if a few pairs are eventually found, they do not appear to be numerous enough to account for the rate at which supernovas are observed. (Crosswell, Ken; "Supernova Theory Exploded by Solitary White Dwarfs," New Scientist, p. 23, March 23, 1991.) From Science Frontiers #77, SEP-OCT 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf077/sf077b05.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 81: May-Jun 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Indigestible Supernova Leftovers There seems to be a mysterious "central compact object" lurking amid the debris of Supernova SN1987A. Prevailing supernova paradigms cannot account for this high density remnant. While some aspects of standard supernova theory were supported by observations made during and since the 1987 explosion, astrophysicists are left with several puzzles in addition to the mystery object itself: "Other puzzles include the largescale asymmetries observed in the heavy element ejecta (Fe-group line emission), the supernova envelope (optical polarization), and the circumstellar medium ([ O III] ring), which are in addition to the complex structures resulting from hydrodynamic instabilities." (Chevalier, Roger A.; "Supernova 1987A at Five Years of Age," Nature, 355:691, 1992.) From Science Frontiers #81, MAY-JUN 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf081/sf081a07.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 64: Jul-Aug 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Libyan Desert Glass Pieces of Libyan Desert Glass weighing as much as 16 pounds are found in an oval area measuring approximately 130 by 53 kilometers. The clear-to-yellowish-green pieces are concentrated in sand-free corridors between north-south dune ridges. The origin of this immense deposit of glass has been attributed by some to ancient nuclear explosions and alien activities, but investigating scientists have always been satisfied with a meteor-impact hypothesis. A recent study (abstract below) also opts for this explanation, although no one has found a crater of suitable size or other supporting evidence. "Libyan Desert Glass (LDG) represents 1.4 x 109 g of natural glass fragments scattered over about 6500 km2 of the western Desert of Egypt. We made a systematic study (employing INAA, microprobe and mass spectrometry techniques) of several varieties of LDG and locally associated sand and sandstone to provide insight into the nature and formation of these enigmatic glass fragments. These studies indicate that: Although the LDG has restricted major element compositions (97.98 wt% SiO2 ; 1-2 wt % Al2 O3 ) their trace element contents (ppm) (Fe, 490-5200; Co, 0.2 -1 .2 ; Cr, 1.2 -29 and Sc. 0.462.5 ) vary by as much as a factor of 5 to 30. The LDG fragments exhibit a factor of ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf064/sf064g09.htm
... This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Can thunderstorms stall cars?Some UFO reports aver that the presence of luminous phenomena (interpreted as alien vehicles) have stalled automobile engines. Here follows an unsensational report, sans UFOs, but with identical consequences. July 20, 1992. Near Valognes, France. A. Lunt and O. Whalley were driving a Citroen 2CV in heavy rain. Lightning in the distance only. "While the car was four to five metres from the approaching halt sign with the gears still engaged, the engine cut out. The car was brought to a stop at the halt sign and when the puzzled men found that the car would not restart they spent some 10-15 seconds wondering what to do. Then suddenly there was a huge flash, described as an 'explosion', only two metres behind and to their right as lightning went to ground in a triangular, gravelled area which formed part of the road junction system. The inside of the car and the surrounding countryside lit up brightly and, simultaneously, there was a terrific crash of thunder. Startled, the occupants stayed in the car for a minute longer without trying to restart the engine before stepping outside to raise the bonnet of the car. The engine appeared dry and there was no discernible reason for its failure. Then, upon getting back into the car, the engine started at once, since when the vehicle has given no further trouble." Of course this single incident cannot prove that the powerful electrical field preceding a lightning stroke interfered with the car's ignition system. This ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf090/sf090g12.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 70: Jul-Aug 1990 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology A RELUCTANT, LONG-OVERDUE PARADIGM SHIFT Astronomy "TAIL WAGS DOG" IN SOLAR SYSTEM Two anomalous types of stars Tilted planetary magnetic fields Biology Killer bamboos Killer whale dialects Wandering albatrosses really wander Crystal engineering Bird brain Artificial molecule shows 'sign of life' Geology Why aren't beach pebbles round? Antarctic ice sheets slipping? Natural gas explosion? Geophysics Double image of lunar crescent Elliptical halos Belgian flying triangle Lightning "attacks" vehicles Spinning ball of light inscribes crop circles General Successful predictions mean little in science ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf070/index.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 93: May-Jun 1994 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The spirit pond inscription stone Molecular clock places humans in new world 22,000-29,000 bp Astronomy Anomalous horizon glows seen on the moon From dust unto dust Biology Marine snow A REALLY ERRANT PIGEON A REALLY ERRANT SEAL Cold-blooded birds? Why snakes have forked tongues Lactating male bats Geology The nebraska sand hills: wind or water deposits? The giant crystal at the heart of the earth Geophysics Strange explosions at sasovo, in russia Just plane weird Psychology The healing of rents in the natural order Mathematics Btt and surreality ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf093/index.htm
... Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Beware the ides of june -- and the rest of the month, too!Three astronomical events, all within the short span of written human history, lead J. Hartung to warn us that June is a dangerous month for earthlings. June 18, 1178. On the moon. ". .. just after sunset, it was reported by at least five men that the 'upper horn of a new moon split and from the division point fire, hot coals, and sparks spewed out.'" These observations have been interpreted as eyewitness accounts of the impact on the moon that gouged out the crater named Giordano Bruno, 20 kilometers in diameter. June 30, 1908. Siberia. "On the morning of June 30, 1908, a tremendous explosion deep in the Siberian taiga near the Tunguska river caused trees over an area of 40 km in diameter to be flattened in a radial pattern and produced a pressure wave in the atmosphere which circled the Earth." June 17-27, 1975. On the moon. ". .. an unusual meteoroid 'storm' was detected by the array of seismometers placed on the moon during the Apollo missions. The peak impact rate on the moon of 0.5 -to-50-kg objects was about 10 times the normal background during this interval. Such a high rate was not recorded at any other time during the 8-year operation of the Apollo passive seismic network." Hartung links all three events to the comet Encke and the closely related Taurid Complex of naturally occuring ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf094/sf094a04.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 97: Jan-Feb 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Did the universe have a beginning?" Abstract. The big bang theory postulates that the entire universe originated in a cosmic explosion about 15 billion years ago. Such an idea had no serious constituency until Edwin Hubble discovered the redshift of galaxy light in the 1920s, which seemed to imply an expanding universe. However, our ability to test cosmological theories has vastly improved with modern telescopes covering all wavelengths, some of them in orbit. Despite widespread acceptance of the big bang theory as a working model for interpreting new findings, not a single important prediction of the theory has yet been confirmed, and substantial evidence has accumulated against it. Here, we examine the evidence for the most fundamental postulate of the big bang, the expansion of the universe. We conclude that the evidence does not support the theory, and that it is time to stop patching up the theory to keep it viable, and to consider fundamentally new working models for the origin and nature of the universe in better agreement with the observations." This paper's author, T. Van Flandern, dismisses quickly two pillars of the Big Bang; i.e ., its supposed predictions of the cosmic microwave background and the abundances of light elements in the universe: "The big bang made no quantitative prediction that the "background" radiation would have a temperature of 3 degrees Kelvin (in fact its initial prediction was 30 degrees Kelvin); whereas Eddington ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf097/sf097a04.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 59: Sep-Oct 1988 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Stele with Unknown Glyphs Found Near Vera Cruz All Roads Lead to Chaco Canyon How and When the Americas Were Peopled Astronomy "? " ! ? Nereid: Grotesque Shape Or Two-faced? Memoirs of A Dissident Scientist Biology Nothing Reacts with Something? Periodic Extinctions and Explosions in Terrestrial Life Aids: Another Great Deceiver Geology Going for Gold Is There Truth in the Grains? Did An Asteroid Impact Trigger the Ice Ages? The New Archaeoperyx Fossil Geophysics Fish and Winkle Showers Lightningless Thunder? Psychology The Enigma of Multiple Personality Observations of Luminous Phenomena Around the Human Body ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf059/index.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 101: Sep-Oct 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Strange phenomenon detected by radars and satellites January 12, 1994. Near Monte Vista, Colorado. At 2:55 PM local time, radars of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and satelliteborne instruments detected an unexplained "heat-radiating" phenomenon. Some sort of fire or explosion was suspected, but air and ground searches by local authorities turned up nothing. Possibly relevant: On the night of January 15, a Rio Grande County sheriff's deputy on patrol saw three helicopters, two with large strobe lights, apparently searching the suspect area. Military officials denied having any craft in the area. (Anonymous; "Officials Baffled by Spectacle on Radar," New Mexican , January 27, 1994. Associated Press item. Cr. P. Viemeister) Comment. Infrared sensors on satellites could detect "heatradiating" phenomena, but it is unclear what groundbased radars "saw." If some kind of military operation were involved, it is doubtful that radar and satellite observations would be made public. Caution advised here! From Science Frontiers #101 Sep-Oct 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf101/sf101g14.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 49: Jan-Feb 1987 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Those Old Maps of Antarctica Inca Walls and Rockwall, Texas Astronomy Enormous Stellar Shell Raises Theoretical Questions Radar Glories on Jupiter's Moons Optical Bursters Halley's Confounding Fireworks Neptune's Strange Necklace Recent Explosion on Sirius? Biology Prebiological Chemistry in Titan's Atmosphere Million-cell Memories? Grounded Bats Nicheless Philosophical Confusion? Monarch Migration An Illusion Geology Moho Vicissitudes A Slice of Ocean Crust in Wyoming The NACP Anomaly Reversed Magnetization in Rocks Geophysics Geomagnetic Reversals From Impacts on the Earth Mystery Plumes and Clouds Over Soviet Territory Sailing Through A Waterspout Psychology Personality and Immunity ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf049/index.htm
... the sublimation model. E.M . Drobyshevski has concluded "The new observations, together with some earlier data still poorly understood (e .g ., the appearance in the coma of large amounts of C3 ) can be accounted for by assuming the cometary ices to contain, apart from the hydrocarbons, nitrogen-containing compounds, etc., also of free oxygen (about 15 wt. %) . Under these conditions, burning should occur in the products of sublimation under deficiency of oxidizer accompanied by the production of 'soot,' 'smoke,' etc. The burning should propagate under the surface crust and localize at a few sites. "The presence of oxygen in cometary ices follows from a new eruption theory assuming the minor bodies of the Solar System to have formed in explosions of the massive ice envelopes saturated with electrolysis products on distant moon-like bodies of the type of Ganymede and Callisto." (Drobyshevski, E.M .; "Combustion as the Cause of Comet P/Halley's Activity," Earth, Moon, and Planets , 43:87, 1988. Cr. L. Ellenberger.) Drobyshevski's combustion theory assumes a "local" origin (within the solar system) for Halley. But measurements of the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-13, made during the 1986 flyby, produced a ratio of 65:1 . This compares to 89:1 for solar system material. The 65:1 ratio, it turns out, is more typical of interstellar material. This datum seems to place Halley ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf064/sf064a03.htm
... the first observation, there were two witnesses. Both saw lightning strike a low-flying USAF jet. Mrs. E. Shobli wrote the following account: "Two forks of lightning came from the clouds in front of the plane, converged on it and gripped it. The tail end of the plane became illuminated -- vapours came from its end and formed into a bright, dense mass. I thought I was witnessing damage to the plane. The light continued to separate from the plane, downwards like a flare. It appeared as yellow, lit-up gases. These seemed to take shape, becoming brighter and denser, and then move downwards in the same direction as the plane (south). About two seconds after disappearing behind the roof there was an ear-splitting explosion. To my relief the plane reappeared unscathed." At the time of the lightning strikes, the jet was passing over a factory, where a fork-lift driver saw a dazzling blue-white ball bounce along the factory roof and enter the building. Many workers inside were treated to an amazing pyrotechnic display as the ball made its way through the building. "It entered the factory through an upand-over door and was seen as a 'pulsating light' or a 'fiery sphere the size of a tennis ball'. Once inside the building it moved very rapidly for two seconds, following the course of the overhead girders without touching them and lighting up each girder 'blue, white and orange' as it raced along. It produced what one witness described as ' ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf114/sf114p09.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 102: Nov-Dec 1995 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology ANCIENT ACOUSTICAL ENGINEERING THE CANDELABRA OF THE ANDES Astronomy HUGE FIREBALL EXPLOSION IN 1994 2,000,000,000 BC: THE EPOCH OF QUASARS Biology TWO POLITICALLY INCORRECT BIOCHEMICAL ANOMALIES FROM DUST UNTO ABYSSAL MUD PERFECT PITCH AND SUNDRY SYNDROMES KING CRAB CONGREGATIONS THE BIRDS Geology WARM LAKE FOUND UNDER ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET REMNANTS OF TUNGUSKA "WEIRD ICICLES" IN A REFRIGERATOR Geophysics A TUNGUSKA-LIKE BLAST IN BRAZIL IN 1930 STYTHE? ICE "METEORITES" FALL LONG-LIVED BUBBLE IN THE ATMOSPHERE Psychology UNCONVENTIONAL WATER DETECTION FUNGAL PHANTASMS Mathematics 1, 089, 533, 431, 247, 059, 310, 875, 780, 378, 922, 957, 447, 308, 967, 213, 141, 717, 486, 151 Physics SOUR GRAPES! ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf102/index.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 5: November 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TUNGUSKA EVENT Rich reviews the facts known about the fall and detonation of the famous 1908 "meteor." That this was no ordinary meteor is born out by several curious data: Tree-rings in the area show an enormous acceleration of growth since 1908; Inhabitants of this remote region stated that the reindeer suffered from mysterious scabs in 1908; There is a slight but definite increase in the radioactivity of the surviving trees; and Testimony indicates that the me-teor changed direction twice before impact. The various theories of what really happened, from black hole to nuclear explosion, are listed without comment. (Rich, Vera; "The 70-Year-Old Mystery of Siberia's Big Bang." Nature, 274:207, 1978.) From Science Frontiers #5 , November 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf005/sf005p13.htm
... of natural detonations (Barisal Guns, mistpouffers, etc.) was probed by several scientific groups following the recent episodes of off-shore booms. This paper by Gold and Soter, from Cornell, would have warmed the heart of Charles Fort, for he made much of natural detonation: or "brontides," as they are termed in the early literature. Gold and Soter review the long history of brontides, noting that brontide activity is often associated with earthquakes, but not always. Natural booming noises, they contend, may be due to eruptions of natural gas. This would square with the rare observations of earthquake lights. Interestingly enough, the recent off-shore detonations were occasionally accompanied by luminous phenomena. (Gold, Thomas, and Soter, Steven; (Brontides: Natural Explosive Noises," Science, 204:371, 1979.) Reference. Brontides and other "water guns" are collected in GSD1 in Earthquakes, Tides, Unidentified Sounds. Details on the Catalog volume here . From Science Frontiers #8 , Fall 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf008/sf008p12.htm
... Frontiers ONLINE No. 15: Spring 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Invention Of Agriculture May Have Been A Step Backward Anthropological texts have always ballyhooed the development of agriculture as one of man's greatest achievements. Not so, says Mark Cohen, of SUNY Plattsburgh. The switch from hunting and gathering to sedentary agriculture, it seems, occurred rather suddenly and was attended by a sharp drop in life expectancy. Ancient human bones reveal much more disease, fewer older people, and more violent deaths for centuries following the adoption of agriculture. Why did humanity give up the surprising degrees of security, freedom, and leisure intrinsic in hunting and gathering? Cohen claims that population pressure was the cause. Unable to stem the human population explosion, ancient humans were forced to adopt a life of toil, disease, and stress. (Lewin, Roger; "Disease Clue to Dawn of Agriculture," Science, 211:41, 1981.) Comment. Is there an echo of the Garden of Eden story here? From Science Frontiers #15, Spring 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf015/sf015p02.htm
... 1800s -- an exceptionally dry period in Africa. Today, the Lake is again high and once more host to isolated rocky islands, each with its own unique complement of cichlid fish; each island has species found nowhere else in the lake. Where did all these species come from, considering that their little islands were bone dry just a century ago? Goldschmidt writes: "Cichlids that inhabited these exposed rocks would have suffocated, unless they had already left for wetter climes. Yet today, species that do not exist anywhere else can be found near almost every rocky island. From an orthodox point of view, the most plausible explanation for this is quite surprising: many color forms as well as biological species developed over a period of less than two hundred years." This is certainly explosive speciation -- real biological punctuation! But, perhaps as water levels fell, the original cichlids found refuges in surviving pools and then repopulated the lake when the waters rose. But is it reasonable to believe that they all sorted themselves out so perfectly that many species are found nowhere else in the lake? The probability seems high that cichlid speciation has been very rapid -- too rapid, one would think for random mutation and the slow feedback of natural selection to accomplish this daunting task in just a century or two. Might there not be some additional nonsupernatural factor at work? (Goldschmidt, Tijs; Darwin's Dreampond , Cambridge, 1996, p. 125.) From Science Frontiers #110, MAR-APR 1997 . 1997-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf110/sf110p07.htm
... depart slowly, quietly, and mournfully. Of course, Eliot was not thinking of asteroids -- no one foresaw impact havoc in his day. But, his use of the word "whimper" can be attached to another, much slower astronomical agent of planetary death: cosmic dust and gas. Here's the current situation: "For the most part of the past five million years, the Solar System has been moving through a rather empty region of interstellar space between the spiral arms of the Milky Way. But a few thousand years ago, it entered a diffuse shell of material expanding outward from an active star-forming region called the Scorpius-Centaurus Association. Such 'super-bubble' shells of gas and dust result from the formation of massive stars, or the explosion of those stars as they become supernovas, and contain gas and dust clouds of varying densities." The density of matter in this solarsystem-engulfing shell could well shroud our planetary system with dust and gas a million times more dense than that we now encounter. If this happens, the sun's rays would slowly dim and life forms dependent on photosynthesis would expire. P. Frisk, a University of Chicago astronomer, forecasts a "bumpy ride" for earth dwellers during the next 50,000 years; but we think Eliot's "whimper" is more expressive of what might happen. (Jayawardhana, Ray; "Earth Menaced by Superbubble," New Scientist, p. 15, June 22, 1996) Comments. A possible precursor of things to come was ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf107/sf107p05.htm
... Emory Kimbrough [TCL]
[email protected](X ) "On 8 January 1992 we were in MSP [Minneapolis/St. Paul] ready for pushback at sunrise. Weather was sleet squalls, temperature of + 2 degrees C (35 degrees F), ceiling of indefinite 100 obscured, visibility of about 1 and mile variable. We deiced and taxied for the active 11L, airborne in 8 minutes after deicing had ended. The First Officer was flying that leg. Climbing through about 900 feet ABL, this incandescent sphere approximately 10 cm (6 inches) in diameter surrounded by a, what I called, plasma cloud of bluish white approx 1 to 1 and meter (3 to 4 feet) in diameter with bright white 'rays' similar to a fireworks
explosion formed just forward and to the left of the radome. We contacted this within second on our left side, just aft of the attach seam of the radome (namely about in line with my left foot). With this contact there was a sharp bang. The cabin crew reported the loud bang but didn't see any haze or light inside the cabin. One did report seeing a bright light on the left side of the aircraft's exterior." Reference. Rayed ball lightning is fairly common. We have cataloged it in GLB3 in our catalog: Lightning, Auroras. To order, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #81, MAY-JUN 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss
...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf081/sf081g12.htm
... there is a crack running westwards for about 6 m. Close to the hole this crack is somewhat widened, and one side of the crack twists itself 25-30 cm above the other. This twisting decreases as one gets further from the hole. The crack gradually subsides, and it is hard to tell exactly where it ends. "About 12 m NW of the hole there is an arched crack of about 15 m lying with its concave side towards the hole. It is plainest in the middle. Here the side closest to the hole has been twisted upwards about 15 cm. Here also the crack gradually disappears at both ends. There is an open hollow beneath the part which has been twisted upwards, about 30 cm below the surface. One theory has lightning creating a steam explosion from underground water. If this were the case, one would expect to find some fusion of the earth and more havoc wrought to the divot. "The slab of turf has an area of about 5 m2 and this should give a weight of between 1500-1700 kg." The article concludes with a brief description of three similar occurrences of the phenomenon in Norway. (Dybwik, Dagfinn, and M ller, Jakob J.; "Phenomenon in an And ya Moor - An Insoluble Mystery?" Ottar , no. 5, p. 15, 1988. Cr. T. Jonassen) Comment. One could easily dismiss (with a knowing smile) a single occurrence of the cookie-cutter phenomenon - but now we have a total of seven! The situation becomes ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf062/sf062g09.htm
... found only in very young, superficial sediments. The point here is that time-of-solidification may not be the same as time-of-fall. At stake is the prevailing theory, now dogmatically proclaimed, that tektites are created when a large asteroid impacts the earth, ejecting molten droplets of rock which shower back to earth as solidified tektites. No one has ever found a suitably large crater ( 200 miles in diameter) assignable to the Australasian tektite strewn field. Nevertheless, the impact model prevails; and the young geological age of the tektites is dismissed as erroneous. A Soviet scientist, E.P . Izokh, has recently proposed a radically different scenario that would produce both the young and old dates. If a moon, or Jupiter, or some similar body, explosively ejected the glassy tektites, embedded in an icy cometary body some 700,000 years ago, the tektites could, after cruising through space for millenia, have fallen to earth recently and over a wide area. Thus, both geologists and geophysicists would be satisfied! (Sullivan, Walter; "New Answer Proposed for Tektites: A Comet," New York Times, November 28, 1989. Cr. R. Adams) Comment. Russian scientists have long suggested that comets may be ejected from solar-system bodies and have been laughed at by American scientists for their trouble! Reference. For more on tektite anomalies, refer to category ESM3 in our catalog: Neglected Geological Anomalies. Ordering information here . An Ablation-sculpted australite, one type of Australian tektite. From Science Frontiers ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf067/sf067g12.htm
... ideas is plagued by discordant observations. The "epoch of quasars" is, therefore, a fabric woven from controversial threads. Two thoughts important enough to mention: (1 ) The idea of a quasar epoch is consistent with the quantization of red shifts mentioned by Tifft (SF#50/ 95); (2 ) Our personal speculation that a quasar epoch might involve a change in the fundamental properties of time, matter, and space -- something like a cosmic phase change (See SF#74/329.*) Apparently, something was basically different in the universe 1.9 -3 .0 billion years ago when quasars reigned. Curiously, there seems to have been something fundamentally different here on earth about 570 million years ago -- the time of the Cambrian explosion, when essentially all the basic body plans (the phyla) of life originated. (SF#85/187) If the universe is much younger than 15 billion years, as some astronomers insist, we might be able to correlate the two epochs when things were really different! *SF#85/187 = Science Frontiers #85 and p. 187 in Science Frontiers (the book). To order the latter, see: here . From Science Frontiers #102 Nov-Dec 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf102/sf102a04.htm
... "CRYSTAL" BALL LIGHTNING June 1, 1984. Nottingham, England. Testimony of Mrs. Elsie Haigh. ". .. at approximately 5.45 p.m ., I was in my kitchen. The window and door were both closed. I was standing with my back to the window when I heard a 'boiling noise' and a noise which sounded like glass splintering -- a crash sound. I was very scared and turned around to face the window and saw a large glass-looking ball, approximately 10 inches in diameter (25 cm), slightly oblong (oblate), with a white filament in the middle. This was floating on a bowl of water which was in the sink. I ran to the bathroom, and seconds later I heard an explosion and splintering glass. When it was quiet -- I think a few seconds elapsed -- I returned to the kitchen. The ball had gone and there was no damage. I can only describe it as a miracle." (Meaden, G.T .; "' Crystal' Ball Lightning," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 9:218, 1984.) Comment. Other ball lightning observations on file include sounds like "breaking glass." See our Catalog Lightning, Auroras, Nocturnal Lights. For a description of this Catalog, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #37, JAN-FEB 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf037/sf037p15.htm
... Thera destroyed the great Minoan civilzation on Crete. Tidal waves, a thick ash blanket, and fires set when quakes overturned oil lamps did the job. This vivid, riveting scenario has been repeated again and again in the media until it seems to be a fact instead of a theory. "Unfortunately, it seems to have been pure myth. Over the past decade or so, evidence against Marinato's theory has been piling up. Much of it has come from unlikely sources - the Greenland ice sheet, for instance, and trees in California and Ireland. Most of this evidence points to the same conclusion: Whatever precipitated the Minoan collapse, it was porbably not Thera. The volcano seems to have erupted more than a century before Minoan civilization died." Briefly, although the explosion of Thera certainly occurred, it was too early. Further, its tidal waves were greatly exaggerated (really only about 30 feet high instead of 600 feet), and most of Thera's ash fell east of Thera, with less than half an inch on Crete itself. The shock of Thera's eruption, 70 miles from Crete, would have been slight - hardly enough to knock over many lamps, although fire does seem to have been a factor in the demise of Cretean civilization. In sum, the cause of the collapse of the Minoan culture still eludes us. (Chen, Allan; "The Thera Theory," Discover, 10:77, February 1989.) Comment. It is interesting to note that signs of conflagration are present in the ruins of ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf066/sf066a02.htm
... For A Giant Pleistocene Sea Wave On the Hawaiian island of Lanai, limestone-bearing gravel blankets the coastal slopes. Called the Hulopoe Gravel, it now reaches a height of 326 meters above sea level. Taking into account the 1000,000-year age of the gravel and the slow subsidence of the Hawaiian Islands, the deposit probably reached 380 meters when it was first formed. The big question is how it got deposited at such great heights. Highsea stands are rejected by the authors in favor of a single episode of catastrophic waves about 100,000 years ago. Earthquake-generated tidal waves are considered unlikely because of the great heights involved. (The highest tsunami ever recorded in historical times reach ed only 17 meters above sea level.) A great meteor impact or submarine volcanic explosion are good possibilities, but the authors favor a giant submarine landslide on the Hawaiian Ridge, noting that in 1958 a similar event off Alaska produced a wave that reached 524 meters above sea level. (Moore, James G., and Moore, George W.; "Deposit from a Giant Wave on the Island of Lanai, Hawaii, Science, 226:1312, 1984.) From Science Frontiers #37, JAN-FEB 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf037/sf037p13.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 18: Nov-Dec 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Offshore Booms Are Still With Us Although they don't get the publicity they did a few years ago, powerful booms still rock the U.S . East Coast and elsewhere. A recent example occurred on June 24, 1981, when the coastline of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia was hit by a house-shaking boom. No supersonic jets were in the area, seismographs recorded no earthquake, and no man-made explosions had occurred, according to a careful check. (Phillips, Jim; "What on Earth Was That? No One Knows: Theories Fizzle Out on the Upstate's Mysterious 'Big Bang,'" Greenville, SC, News, June 25, 1981.) Comment. The East Coast booms attract ed national attention in the late 1970s. Despite several government-sponsored investigations, there was no consensus of scientific opinion. The booms remain anomalies. We catalog these in GSD1 in Earthquakes, Tides. This book is described at: here . From Science Frontiers #18, NOV-DEC 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf018/sf018p12.htm
... be the reason. Stellar thermonuclear ignition . Astronomers assume that the high temperatures required to ignite the thermonuclear reactions powering stars come from gravitational collapse, but this source does not seem adequate to some scientists. Nuclear fission reactors could ignite stars just as they do H-bombs. Missing matter . Natural nuclear reactors are finicky. There may be many star-sized, non-luminous objects out there that were never ignited and that we cannot see through our telescopes. (Herndon, J. Marvin; "Examining the Overlooked Implications of Natural Nuclear Reactors," Eos, 79:451, 1998.) Comments. Two additions to Herndon's list. Evolution of terrestrial life . Nuclear reactors produce copious mutagenic radiation. They could have accelerated the evolution of life, especially during the Cambrian Explosion. (See SF#32) Thermal plumes . Deep-seated natural nuclear reactors may create the thermal plumes said to be responsible for such surface hot spots as Iceland and Hawaii. Disposition of six of the Oklo 2-billion-year-old natural nuclear reactors. (From: Anomalies in Geology). From Science Frontiers #121, JAN-FEB 1999 . 1999-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf121/sf121p02.htm
... Space Spume The celestial pot seems to have boiled over "in the beginning." New surveys of the galaxies suggest that they are mostly located on the surfaces of bubbles, not as we thought for so long distributed uniformly throughout the cosmos, the expanding debris of the Big Bang. If further surveys confirm a bubbly universe, the "conventional explanations for the evolution of large-scale structure in which gravity played a dominant role may have to be modified or abandoned." To explain the bubbles, a new scenario has Big Bang #1 creating a population of uniformly distributed, extremely massive stars, which eventually burned out and exploded in a crescendo of supernovas. One stellar detonation stimulating adjacent giant stars to explode in a chain reaction. The bubble-like shock waves expanding outward from these explosions stimulated the condensations of the stars we now see in the heavens. Naturally, these stars and galaxies are concentrated on the surfaces of the shock wave bubbles. (Anonymous; "New 3-D Map Shows the Cosmos with a 'Bubble Bath' Appearance," Baltimore Sun, January 5, 1986.) Comment. The space bubbles are mapped using redshifts as measurements of distance. As all-too-frequently asserted in this book, some redshifts may not be distance yardsticks, in which case these theoretical bubbles would burst. As the structures of the cosmos and the subatomic worlds become more and more foreign to everyday experience, we have to ask whether such bizarre constructions may not be the consequence of incorrect physical theories, such as Relativity, the Big Bang Hypothesis, and ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf044/sf044p04.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 43: Jan-Feb 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Treasures In A Toxonomic Wastebasket The Burgess Shale, in British Columbia, ia all that is left of a Middle Cambrian mudbank that adjoined a massive algal reef. Here, many "experimental" forms of life prospered and succumbed. The Burgess Shale is probably the world's greatest depository of fossils of softbodied creatures. Quoting Stephen Jay Gould: "The Burgess (fortunately for us) occupies a crucial time in life's history. It represents our only 'window' upon the first great radiation of complex life on earth. All but one or two modern phyla originated in a burst of evolutionary activity associated with the so-called Cambrian explosion some 570 million years ago. The Burgess provides our only peek at the soft-bodied forms of this first flowering. All other soft-bodied fossil assemblages are much younger; they represent faunas well past the initial burst and sorting out of Cambrian times." The morphological diversity of the Burgess Shale, incorporating many bizarre forms of life, represents a true biological revolution. Here are found a dozen genera that do not fit into any modern phylum. Most of the novelties never survived into modern times. (Gould, Stephen Jay; "Treasures in a Taxonomic Wastebasket," Natural History, 94:24, December 1985.) Comment. Somewhere on today's earth, there must be mudbanks washed by nutrient-rich waters and bathed in tropical sunlight. Is some ingredient ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf043/sf043p11.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects 50-POUND 'ICE BOMB' FALLS IN WEST VIRGINIA June 26, 1990. Jerry's Run, West Virginia. "Heisel and Alice Amos, and their grandson, Aaron Hupp, had just turned on a movie on television when the house was jarred with what Mrs. Amos thought was an explosion. "Looking out the front door, they saw their son, Donald, 43, looking in the direction of their television satellite dish some 30 yards away where something had hit the ground with a terrific impact. "Inspecting that area, they found a hole some 24 inches long and 18 inches wide, and about four to six inches deep filled with large chunks of broken ice. Amos said pieces of baseball- and marble-size ice were scattered in a 30-foot radius around the hole." Further facts from this newspaper account: Several other chunks of ice were found in an area about 1 mile long. Some chunks made whistling sounds as they fell. The larger chunks were completely transparent except for a yellowishbrown streak. Many of the chunks had sand in them. Some contained holes. The weather was clear. The Federal Aviation Administration stated that if the ice originated in aircraft toilets it would have been blue from the chemicals used. (Hawk, Harold; "50-Pound 'Ice Bomb' Falls near Jerry's Run," Parkersburg News, June 27, 1990. Cr ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf074/sf074g13.htm
... ', larger than a football, about 20 to 30 feet from her, travelling horizontally at a constant height up her drive. There was very heavy rainfall, perhaps with some hail, but no lightning or thunder. The ball was seen against the background of other houses and her view of it was not interrupted. It was round, opaque and predominantly white with some yellow, and surrounded by a blue, irridescent halo. She said it was reminiscent of a meteor or comet and the light from it was like that from a fluorescent tube. It was bright enough to be clearly visible in daylight and appeared to be spinning or rotating. It hit the oak tree, perhaps 12 or 13 feet away, in Mrs. Wignall's front garden, with a terrific crack and explosion. "The ball was in sight for about 10 to 15 seconds, and its appearance did not change until it struck the tree, whereupon it became smaller. It hit the trunk about half way up and split the bark and trunk, showering splinters of wood over a distance of about 50 yards. As it did so, it rolled down the tree and dispersed in flashes -- she said that there seemed to be 'waves of lightning' passing from it into the ground and radial sparks streaming out of it in all directions. Her husband, however, thought he saw the ball, now smaller in size, cross the lawn." (Stenhoff, Mark; "Ball Lightning Reported in Conwy," Journal of Meteorology,U .K ., 17:308 ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf086/sf086g11.htm
... we had heard some part of an aircraft or satellite, or even a small meteor, coming down and, with the local farmer, we investigated the circles, but found no debris at all -- just flattened barley. The farmer said that sometimes growing conditions made barley collapse at its base, though he could not understand the almost perfect circle." Further investigation turned up people who had seen a whirlwind in the area at the time. (Anonymous; "Mystery Spirals in Cerealfields," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 8:216, 1983.) Comment. UFO enthusiasts usually attribute such circles of flattened crops to flying saucers, but apparently whirlwinds are adequate explanations. However, the noise and action of the reputed whirlwind force us to categorize it with the explosive onset of other whirlwinds, as described in GWW1 of Tornados, Dark Days, Anomalous Pre cipitation. For more information on this Catalog, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #31, JAN-FEB 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf031/sf031p18.htm
... Geology Geophysics Logic/mathemitics Archeology Psychology Miscellaneous phenomena Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online Science Frontiers: The Book Sourcebook Project A ASTRONOMY Catalog of Anomalies (Astronomy Subjects)Within each of these fields, catalog sections that are already in print are given alphanumerical labels. For example, BHB1 = B (Biology)+ H (Humans)+ B (Behavior)+ 1 (first anomaly in Chapter BHB). Some anomalies and curiosities that are listed below have not yet been cataloged and published in catalog format. These do not have the alphanumerical labels. AA ASTEROIDS AAB CELESTIAL MECHANICS PROBLEMS WITH ASTEROIDS AAB1 Anomalous Asteroid Orbits AAB2 Asteroid Distribution Anomalies AAB3 The High "Internal Energy" of the Asteroid Population AAB4 Peculiar Distribution of Asteroid Spin Rates AAB5 Unexplained Residual Precession of Icarus AAB6 Evidence against an Explosive Origin for Asteroids AB SOLAR SYSTEM "LAWS" AND INTERRELATIONSHIPS ABB DYNAMICS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AS-A -WHOLE ABB1 Solar-System Instability ABB2 Circularity of Planetary Orbits ABB3 Anomalous Split of Angular Momentum between Sun and Planets ABB4 Ubiquity of Resonances in the Solar System ABS REMARKABLE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG PLANETARY AND SATELLITE PARAMETERS ABS1 Solar System Laws of Distance ABS2 Similarity of Densities of Composite Terrestrial Planets ABS3 Multiple Primaries in the Solar System ABS4 Supposed Quantization of Planetary Orbital Periods ABS5 Solar System Mass Laws ABS6 The Quantized Nature of Orbital Systems AC COMETS ACB ORBITAL ANOMALIES OF COMETS ACB1 The Appearance of Comets in Cycles ACB2 Nonrandom Direction-of-Approach of Comets to the Sun ACB3 New Comets Have Almost Critical Velocity ACB4 Sun-Grazing Comets: The Kreutz Group ACB5 Changing Cometary Periods ACB6 Jupiter's Family ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 7 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /cat-astr.htm
... , LC 82-99902, ISBN 915554-09-7 , 7x10-in format. Hardcover edition, $24.95: out of stock Tornados, Dark days, Anomalous Precipitation: A catalog of Geophysical Anomalies Sorry: Out of Print. No longer available. Here is our "weather' Catalog. As everyone knows, our atmosphere is full of tricks, chunks of ice fall from the sky, tornado funnels glow at night. The TV weathermen rarely mention these "idiosyncrasies". [Picture caption: Conical hailstones with fluted sides] Typical subjects covered: Polar-aligned cloud rows * Ice fogs (the Pogonip) * Conical hail * Gelatinous meteors * Point rainfall * Unusual incendiary phenomena * Solar activity and thunderstorms * Tornados and their association with electricity * Multiwalled waterspouts * Explosive onset of whirlwinds * Dry fogs and dust fogs * Effect of the moon on rainfall * Ozone in hurricanes * Ice falls (hydrometeors) Comments from reviews: ". .. can be recommended to every one who realizes that not everything in science has been properly explained", Weather 202 pages, hardcover, $16.95, 40 Illustrations, 5 indexes, 1983. 745 references, LC 82-63156, ISBN 915554-10-0 , 7x10 format. Earthquakes, Tides, Unidentified Sounds: A Catalog of Geophysical Anomalies Sorry: Out of Print. No longer available. Quakes and monster, solitary waves and natural detonations; these are the consequences of solids, liquids, and gases in motion. In our modern technological cocoon, we are hardly aware of this rich ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 6 - 10 Oct 2021 - URL: /sourcebk.htm
... But Not Male's Convergence of Shark and Camel Protein Convergence of Elephant and Insect Pheromone BMD DISTRIBUTION OF MAMMALS IN SPACE AND TIME BMD1 Remarkable Congregations and Concentrations of Mammals BMD2 Apparent Dearths and Absences of Mammals BMD3 Cycles in Mammal Populations BMD4 Exotic Mammals BMD5 Geographically Separated Populations of Flightless Mammals BMD6 Sharp Zoogeographical Divisions Despite Minimal Barriers to Movement BMD7 Decrease in Biodiversity with Latitude BMD8 Preference for Certain Geological Formations BMD9 Entombed Mammals BMD10 Late Survival of Mammoths and Mastadons BMD11 Current or Very Recent Survival of Giant Ground Sloths BMD12 Current Survival of the Thylacine BMD13 Current or Very Recent Survival of Steller's Sea Cow BMD14 Miscellaneous Potential Late Survivors Species Richness Correlated with Latitude BME THE FOSSIL RECORD OF MAMMALS BME1 Scarcity of Transitional Fossils in the Class Mammalia BME2 Persistence of Certain Mammalian Morphological Forms in the Fossil Record BME3 Explosive Radiations in Mammalian Evolution BME4 Unexplained Extinctions of Large Mammals BME5 The Failure of Evolution to Improve Mammal Survivability BME6 Anomalously Early Fossils BME7 Track-Like Markings in Ancient Strata BME8 Mammals with Histories Known Only from Subfossils BME9 Anomalous Distribution of Mammalian Skeletal Material BME10 Parallelisms in the Mammalian Fossil Record BME11 Pleistocene Dwarfing of Some Mammals BME12 Variations in Mammalian Teeth and Skeletons Show a Definite Direction Very Early Australian Placental Mammals Eurasian Apes as Ancestors of the Great Apes (and Humans) Aquatic Sloths Evolution of Cetacean Osmoregulation Evolution of Giraffe Necks Bipedal Apes (before Humans) BMF BODILY FUNCTIONS BMF1 Water-Breathing in Mammals BMF2 Remarkable Adaptations in Diving Mammals BMF3 Oddities of Digestion BMF4 Perpetual Growth in Mammals BMF5 Limb Generation in Mammals BMF6 Anomalies of Hibernation in Monotremes BMF7 The "Winter Sleep" of Bears BMF8 Freeze- ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 5 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /cat-biol.htm
