The meteorite flight culminated in the powerful blast up to 40 Mt of trotyl equivalent
Members of the scientific expedition of the Siberian state foundation Tunguska Space Phenomenon say they have managed to uncover blocks of an extraterrestrial technical device. The space body, which was later called the Tunguska meteorite, fell down on Earth on June 30th 1908, 65 kilometers off the Vanavara settlement, the Evenkiya republic.
The first expedition to study the Tunguska meteorite was organized in 1927. Professor Leonid Kulik headed the mission. However, explorers have never managed to discover any fragments of the celestial body.
The press service of the Evenkiya republic administration reported the expedition worked in the western part of the region in the summer of the current year. The mission's itinerary was based on the results of the space footage analysis. Explorers believe they have discovered blocks of an extraterrestrial technical device, which crashed down on Earth on June 30th, 1908. In addition, expedition members found the so-called ‘deer’ – the stone, which Tunguska eyewitnesses repeatedly mentioned in their stories. Explorers delivered a 50-kilogram piece of the stone to the city of Krasnoyarsk to be studied and analyzed.
It is generally believed a giant ball of fire flew above Central Siberia before the Tunguska meteorite blast. Scientists have analyzed hundreds of eyewitnesses' stories and revealed a still inexplicable detail. Thunder-like sounds and incredible light effects were seen not only during and after the bolide flight, but also before it. Several eyewitnesses, including a political exile (a highly-educated individual), mentioned that in their stories. It is very hard to explain it with subjective mistakes, because such affirmations reiterate independently. Observers were located tens of kilometers far from the area of the fall. A ballistic wave could not create such a sound: it could remain behind the bolide, but it could never outdistance it. The only real explanation can be linked with powerful electromagnetic phenomena, albeit scientists have not developed a complete analysis of the issue from this point of view.
Another circumstance is tied with the direction of the body's movement. On the ground of eyewitnesses' testimonies collected in the 1920s and 1930s, scientists concluded the bolide had flown northwards from the south. The analysis of the woods destruction, though, testified to the westwards movement of the body from the east. It is noteworthy it is the direction that can be traced in eyewitnesses' stories.
The discrepancy is evident. A lot of scientists have tried to explain the mysterious phenomenon using various approaches. It was particularly said several bolides had flown above the Siberian woods in 1908. This point of view seems to be rather unfounded – no eyewitness could see several bolides in one day. Another theory provoked a discussion in the scientific world, when professor F.Zigel proposed the meteorite maneuvered in the Earth's atmosphere. It would be possible to discuss the theory only if the Tunguska meteorite was a man-caused catastrophe. The meteorite flight culminated in the powerful blast up to 40 Mt of trotyl equivalent.