This is driving me kind of nuts. Some catastrophic event happened, presumably somewhere in or around Siberia, in the "Coming to America, 14,000 B.C." story. After the tribe had travelled east for a ways, a blinding light and deafening sound came from the west, wiping out people remaining in the area. From the description, I figured it was an asteroid impact, but haven't found information on any probable "natural disaster" in that part of the world around that time. I guess I've just assumed that, given the other real or almost-real places and events in the book, this was probably based in fact, too.

Did I miss something obvious? Or is it just a case of getting too stuck on a detail?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 2sheds,

A google search turned up a page claiming that an asteroid named Hale Bopp landed on earth and destroyed Atlantis, though I did not read the whole page, so that might just be one of the dates mentioned somewhere else on the page.

http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~drjh/chapter2.html

Also i found this on another page about aliens.

Based on later myths that tell of "prior worlds" being destroyed and recreated, and based on their information that the Star People were here to help, we get the following scenario:

The Goddess culture / early humans were in some way warned about a coming disaster that hit here about 14,000 BC and lasted until around 10,000 BC. These dates are approximate and based on data held by Dr LaViolette. The great megafauna extinction is attached to this also. However, I have never heard of a human mass extinction. Mitochondrial DNA studies would have shown another "bottleneck" in human history. I have seen no note of this. The bottleneck of c70,000 BC was noted, but where is the physical evidence? The bodies?

Humanity came through the event, and also came through the great meltwater floods. All said to have been with the help of the gods. Over time, we had gotten back to living our lives.

I also see alot of nonspecific mentions of an iceage at that time, and also the first history of native americans.

quote:

Originally posted by Eldi:
A google search turned up a page claiming that an asteroid named Hale Bopp landed on earth and destroyed Atlantis, though I did not read the whole page, so that might just be one of the dates mentioned somewhere else on the page.

http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~drjh/chapter2.html

Hale Bopp was last seen in 1997. It was visable for eighteen months and the inspiration for the Heavens Gate mass stupidcide. When a comet lands on earth it doesn't bounce away and merrily ping about the planets. The solar system is not, despite the evidence to the contrary, Gods pinball machine.

If you want to find if there actually is a specific event being alluded to, asteroid being quite probable, there are two options. Check the geological records rather than aliens probed me records. Or ask Neil.

quote:

Originally posted by Cavenagh:

quote:

Originally posted by Eldi:
A google search turned up a page claiming that an asteroid named Hale Bopp landed on earth and destroyed Atlantis, though I did not read the whole page, so that might just be one of the dates mentioned somewhere else on the page.

http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~drjh/chapter2.html

Hale Bopp was last seen in 1997. It was visable for eighteen months and the inspiration for the Heavens Gate mass stupidcide. When a comet lands on earth it doesn't bounce away and merrily ping about the planets. The solar system is not, despite the evidence to the contrary, Gods pinball machine.

If you want to find if there actually is a specific event being alluded to, asteroid being quite probable, there are two options. Check the geological records rather than aliens probed me records. Or ask Neil.

Like i said, I didnt read the whole page, mostly because atlantis is a fictional place to begin with.

quote:

Originally posted by Eldi:
I also see alot of nonspecific mentions of an iceage at that time, and also the first history of native americans.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I found, too. I also found some reference to a shift in the tilt of the earth's axis around 14,000 B.C. Doesn't seem like quite the right kind of natural disaster, though.

I may end up asking Neil; I thought I'd check here first, though.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention -- I've also come across quite a few references to an asteroid impact (or explosion) in 1908; descriptions I've read reinforce my impression that the "Coming to America" catastrophe was an asteroid.

I had merely thought that the placing in Siberia was simply a combination of two things: (1) it was convenient for the narrative to get people onto the North American mainland, and (2) because of the Tunguska event in 1908 whose occurence might imply that if it can happen once, fairly recently, it could certainly have happened in the past.