The Tunguska Mystery

by Vladimir Rubtsov, Edward Ashpole (Editor)

     The summer of 1908 witnessed the arrival of an unknown space body and an explosion over the Tunguska forest in Central Siberia that could have flattened any major city on Earth. Most people think that the Tunguska event was explained long ago by scientists who study meteorites - that it was either a stony meteorite or the icy core of a comet. But these assumptions are not so tenable as their supporters would like to think. The Tunguska event remains an enigma in its second century of existence as perplexing as it has been throughout the past century. And what Russian scientists have discovered in recent decades is both astounding and reliable, and will cause some eyebrows to be raised.
     The Tunguska Mystery is the first truly comprehensive and popular exposition of this century-long enigma written specially for western readers. It is objective and pays attention to both conventional and unconventional theories of the Tunguska space body's origin. Also, this is the only book written in the English language on Tunguska studies in the former Soviet Union and the new independent states that is entirely based on firsthand accounts of serious researchers directly engaged in these studies. The book's language is simple, The Tunguska Mystery is meant not only for specialists, but first of all for any reader who is interested in the fascinating mysteries of the world we live in.
      As a reader noted on Amazon.com, the book is "very well written. The illustrations and photographs help the reader to understand the great importance of this study. I found this book to be a fine addition to anyone's library. Who does not enjoy a good mystery... a true scientific mystery which may help us someday to protect our Earth from future Tunguska events. I wish to add that it was very enjoyable from beginning to end, with a touch of humor and many interesting facts!"

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, History

328 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2008

Reviews

[Michael B. Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When: June 30, 1908, early morning.
Where: Russian Empire, Central Siberia, Tunguska River Valley.
What: A celestial body entered the atmosphere and exploded a few miles high, devastating about 1,500 square miles.
Well, maybe, because something happened at Tunguska that has never been fully explained and there are many theories. The most popular is that a meteorite fell on the spot, creating the so-called “Siberian Valley of Death”, but is this really the case? This very interesting book explores the different theories and explains the facts. Really worth reading. One thing is for sure, I will go to Tunguska sooner or later.
I want to see for myself.

[Max Nemtsov · Rating 5 out of 5]

В детстве я прочел тонну дешевого советского научпопа о Тунгуске, где мне рассказывали, что я не должен забивать себе голову чепухой: это был метеорит. Ну или на худой конец комета. Казанцева я тоже читал, но он проходил по категории разрешенных и прирученных  прогрессивных фантазеров, смелых только там, где задавать вопросы: а вдруг пришельцы? Мне же хотелось ответов, а не какой-то заведомой хуйни. Видите ли, я вырос бок о бок с Сихотэ-Алиньским метеоритом в музее Арсеньева и разницу между научным позитивизмом и необъясненным явлением видел наглядно и понимал с детства.

И вот книжка покойного украинского уфолога и палеоконтактивиста, которая позиционируется как самая что ни есть определенная, обзор и итог новейших исследований. На самом деле, это скорее доступный и обстоятельный очерк истории советских исследований, которое плавно переходит в филиппику против советской науки. Понятно, что из прочитанного в детстве я кое-что, конечно, запомнил, но освежить не помешало, а многое, особенно после 70х, и вообще было в новиночку. В общем, очень годная и увлекательная книжка.

Непонятно, правда, почему Рубцов лишь мимомоходом и очень глухо пару раз упоминает  "камень-олень" - эту глыбу, прилетевшую на гору Стойковича: при его жизни камень уже вовсю исследовали. Не трогает он и безумную теорию, вплотную затрагивающую струны - не души, а чисто теоретические: взрывы были техногенными и вызваны экспериментами Теслы на другом краю земли примерно в то же время. Все это, понятно делается для продвижения собственной версии Рубцова о двух "столкнувшихся" телах, одно из которым могло запросто оказаться пилотируемым. Ну и зато нам рассказывают о японском профессоре радиэлектроники, убежденном, что в 1908 году там разбился японский космический корабль, поэтому, став в 1989м первым иностранным туристом в заповеднике, он провел в эпицентре поминальный обряд.

Но попытки вскрыть Тунгуску все равно осуществлялись по заветам Айнстайна: теория должна быть наружно непротиворечивой и доказательной - и внутренне целостной и гармоничной. Ровно то, что мы пытаемся делать, взламывая каждую строку любимого автора. Ну а дополнительное чтение - в массе всяких полезных и увлекательных маргиналий на томском сайте: http://tunguska.tsc.ru/ru/ - его весь можно читать, как книжку.

Вообще конечно это больше всего похоже на темпорально-спатиальное искажение или возмущение: в пространстве никто не подходил ближе к месту чем на несколько сот км, а во времени до него добрались только лет через 20. Раньше и ближе шаманы не разрешали, хотя один человек вроде как был в то утро в 25 км от эпицентра. В моменте и по месту же там не было никого, поэтому возникает вопрос, а были ли это место и время? Ну и толком замерить радиационное загрязнение там вроде бы до сих пор никому не удалось: то у исследователей деньги заканчивались, то они сами умирали при загадочных обстах.

[Victor Sonkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and very detailed account of the event, subsequent research and current theories.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had always heard that the event that took place in Siberia in 1908 was caused by a meteor. This book shows that even after almost a century of studying all the data collected by scientists, no definitive answer to the question "What caused all the destruction in Tunguska?" has come to light. There is evidence to support many theories but each theory, ranging from a meteor to a comet to an alien spaceship to mirror matter, also has findings that dispute each one. How could millions of trees have been flattened and burned in such a large area while a few trees were left upright and untouched by any scorching? What caused the extremely rapid regrowth of the area? Why is there no crater formed from the event? Why do eyewitness accounts from the south and the east differ so radically? These are just a few of the many anomalies that make this so fascinating.

[Mike Lisanke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has many great theories about Tunguska but not one with any certainty. And since the catastrophe occurred almost prehistory (due to lack of population) the "science" of the story isn't as much science as inquiry. This said, the story is compelling... was it an Alien Spacecraft... well that'd be pretty rare (to have around and have it crash). How about a nuclear device (who'd do that then, 1908). There has recently been another meteor almost level part of Russia... and it kind of came the same way... no mention as before this book (I think).

Anyway, you'll likely enjoy a good story and maybe you'll get inro the investigation!

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

On June 30, 1908, on a sunny Siberian morning at 00 H 14 M GMT (7:14 am local time) something exploded in the skies over the Podkamennaya (Lower Stony) Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai of Russia. The blast blew out windows 200 km away and was heard more than 800 km from the site. The seismic wave was recorded as far away as Germany and the atmospheric pressure wave was measured on barographs in London. The nearest eyewitnesses (30 km to the south-southeast) had their shelter blown away, their local area set afire, and reported a second sun in the sky. Approximately 2100 sq km of forest was radially flattened and then burned. At the epicentre, trees remained standing but were stripped of branches - burnt telegraph poles. The blast occurred at some 6 to 8 km altitude. There is no impact crater.

I became fascinated by the Tunguska Event nearly half a century ago, reading about it in 'Boy's Life' or some such and I am not alone, as it has become an enduring Global mystery, familiar to hundreds of millions, and a staple of popular western culture seeking the undefinable. A true X-File. This morning, (26 October 2009) a Google search on 'Tunguska event' turned up over 59,000 hits. Not surprising for an occurrence that has been the focus of intense curiosity, speculation and (as Dr. Rubtsov has detailed) an extraordinary investigative effort by Soviet and Russian scientists over the last hundred years.

Dr. Rubtsov's book is an encyclopedic compilation and a well written precis of the scientific records of that marvellous research. From the 1921 Kulik expedition searching for evidence of a meteorite impact (which was not found) to the Centenary conferences held in 2008 to discuss the event (there were more than half a dozen of them), Dr. Rubtsov has catalogued the incredible effort put into the problem over the last century, both by independent researchers and also by the official Soviet (later Russian) Scientific Academies. Much of the content and references have not been widely documented in the West prior to this publication and that is not surprising, since most of the citations refer to previous documentation only available in Russian. It is an excellent reference book and a worthy addition to the libraries of all anomalists.

More than that, it is clear from Dr. Rubtsov's writing that he holds a huge 'affection' (for lack of a better word), not only for the still unsolved mystery of the Tunguska Event (which he has been personally involved in for nearly four decades), but also for the vast army of scientific researchers (it was a revelation to me just how vast this army was) who have spent large proportions of their professional lives in trying to make sense of this extraordinary happening. He writes with humour and a subtle wit. The subtlety is not misplaced, since during the Soviet era, subtlety was necessary in addressing the problem. The wrong inference published by an open-minded scientist could have earned him a one way ticket to Siberia and a lifetime spent contemplating the mystery from some nearby Gulag. In this respect, Dr. Rubtsov's book should be of interest not only to anomalists, but also to historians and others interested in the evolution of the Soviet scientific effort under the paradigm of an (arguably) paranoid totalitarian government.

Dr. Rubtsov is meticulous in detailing the evidence that has emerged of the mystery. Unusual celestial phenomena recorded as remotely as Western Europe beginning three days or earlier before the event. Many hundreds of eyewitness reports from up to 1000 km away of a flying object (or objects) as it (or they) approached Tunguska, records of the hemispheric magnetic storm associated with the explosion, analysis of the felled trees, including blast patterns and 'flash burns', remnant traces of 'hard' or ionizing radiation in the area, the presence of rare earth elements (and other interesting elements) in the zone affected by the explosion, biological mutations and last but not least, barographic records of the explosion that indicate the possibility that it may have had a nuclear origin. The calculated magnitude of the blast itself was 50 megatons, approximately equivalent to the largest hydrogen bomb ever detonated (the so-called Tsar Bomb fired in 1961 in Novaya Zemlya). This was not your garden variety meteorite!

The book is extremely well referenced and I suspect that Dr. Rubtsov's editor, Edward Ashpole, has had a large influence in setting it in it's final form for English publication. I would have liked a more comprehensive index dealing more specifically with subjects as well as with people - perhaps that will come in later printings?

It is apparent that in addition to being a good writer and scientist, above all Dr. Rubtsov is an empiricist. He repeatedly makes the point that there is no use in proposing explanations that do not fit all of the empirical data. From Kulik's 1921 meteorite, through comet cores, cosmic snowflakes, mini-black holes, an antimatter asteroid and even the 'fanciful' explanation proposed by the Russian Science Fiction writer Alexander Kazantsev in 1945 (a distressed alien starship), Dr. Rubtsov has looked at them all. None of them totally fit the data, although some of them have definitely provided insight and guidance for future research.

Does Dr. Rubtsov have his own theory? Indeed he does, but I will not reveal it in this review, partly because I am still trying to get my head around it. Does it fit the data? Well, yes. That should be enough although it probably won't be. There is clearly more work to be done.

Heartily recommended for all of us who do not totally trust or accept the current world view promulgated in the popular media. Heartily recommended for all those who like to look at the evidence (the two - ie the current world view and the evidence - are not, in my opinion, necessarily contiguous). I think that Dr. Rubtsov would probably agree.

[Lamouchi Lfc · Rating 5 out of 5]

On 1908 something exploded in the sky above the Tunguska river in Siberia. The explosion flattened over 2000 square kilometers of forest,30 millions !The blast was heard more than 800 km from the site. The nearest eyewitnesses (30 km) had their shelter blown away, their local area set afire, and reported a second sun in the sky. The energy of the explosion was estimated to have been equivalent to the explosive force of as much as 15 megatons of TNT—a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
But even after more than 100 years of the event, it exact origin remains a mystery.
In this book Dr. Rubtsov examines the many expeditions and individuals who investigate, includes eyewitness accounts, and theories of the cause. An interesting and complete account of one of greatest scientific mystery of the 20 century.

[Fiona Ottley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough to read due to the "academic" nature of the writing. These types of writers took their high school instructions about each chapter having an intro, body & conclusion too seriously. They repeat themselves to the point of snoredom! Bottom line, they have no answer to the mystery. They provide all the evidence, discuss all the scenarios, including the star wars battle in our atmosphere one, and rule none out.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

On June 30, 1908, at 7:14 am local time, in a remote area of Siberia, an explosion occurred. This event was the equivalent of 10-30 megatons of TNT and flattened an area of 770-830 sq. miles, knocking down an estimated 30 to 80 million trees. This book examines the many expeditions and individuals who investigate, includes eyewitness accounts, and theories of the cause. Awesome scientific study.

[Peter Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was very thorough although somewhat scattered in its presentation.

This is a difficult subject in that I think the proper conclusion is that we do not understand what happened. It is very tempting to pick one of the many hypotheses and say this is it but the author shows that there is no one theory that accounts for all the credible evidence.

[Jeremy Sawruk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat verbose, the book presents a lot of information from several expeditions to the Tunguska site, as well as an insight into the scientific community during the USSR. The book does not firmly side with any particular solution to the problem, but has cautious optimism that computer simulations may become increasingly useful in resolving this mystery.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading this book and I was amazed at the amount of information in it. I never realized the Tunguska Event of 1908 was still being looked into today. Reading about those involved in studying the event was quite interesting. I will definitely read this book again.

[Mason Summers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.

[Nev Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather dry factual covering of a very dangerous event. Little is known to this day

[Jorgon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview of the current hypotheses and state of research; would benefit from better editing and translation, as well as operhaps a bit more rigorous treatment.