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The facts about the Tunguska event

1927 visit. Neither were found remains from any kind of outer space debris.

The expedition did find the epicenter of the blast. The trees closest to the epicenter were stripped of bark and branches but remained standing for about 31 miles. As the expedition moved farther away from the epicenter, the trees were scorched and fallen. Photographs from that time show an eerie pattern of fanned out destruction.

Kulik and others returned three more times between 1927 and 1937 to the Tunguska area on fact-finding expeditions. They drained a small bog to find out if it could be the impact crater for a meteorite that could have caused the event but found instead tree stumps at the bottom. The 1938 aerial photograph of the Tunguska area still did not show an impact crater.

After the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, an event which effectively ended World War II, Russian scientists thought they found similarities between the devastation at Tunguska and at Hiroshima.

In the 1950's and 1960's, the Tunguska site was again explored. Very tiny spherical bits which appeared to be like glass were found in the soil. The chemical composition of those microscopic bits indicated large levels of nickel and iridium, elements that are found in other fallen meteorite fragments. The site was tested for elevated radiation levels but none were found.

Today, a little over one hundred years later, scientists are no closer to knowing for certain what caused the Tunguska event and the devastation it left behind.

Resources:
http://www.ex aminer.com/x-354-SF-Science-Ex aminer~y2008m6d30-Tunguska-Eve nt-100-years-ago-today
http://w ww.sandia.gov/news/resources/r eleases/2007/asteroid.html
http ://www.sciencedaily.com/releas es/2008/07/080701105330.htm
htt p://www.psi.edu/projects/siber ia/siberia.html
http://www.arma geddononline.org/tunguska_aste roid_event.php

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