PARTICLE PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY RESEARCH COUNCIL
Swindon, England
Contacts: Charlotte Allen, PPARC Press Office
charlotte_allen@pparc.ac.uk
Dr William Napier, Armagh Observatory
wmn@star.arm.ac.uk
Wednesday 20th May 1998
ANCIENT MYTHS AND TREE RINGS POINT TO GIANT COMET'S VISIT TO EARTH
Ancient myths, tree ring studies and archaeological evidence all
confirm that a rare giant comet may have visited the Earth only a few
thousand years ago, raining fireballs and meteors in its wake.
Dr Bill Napier, astronomer at Armagh Observatory, and Dr Victor Clube
of Oxford and Armagh Universities, have investigated the doom-laden
cosmic myths of early civilisation. From the Persian prophet
Zooraster, who in 500 BC predicted the end of the world caused by 'a
huge comet sent by Satan', to the description in the Book of
Revelations of a 'burning mountain' falling from the sky, early
history is full of myths of celestial combat, rains of fire and
many-headed dragons, which support astronomers' theories of the
existence of a tumultuous night sky.
Recent terrestrial research has provided 'hard' evidence to support
theories of close encounters with comets. Tree-ring studies of Irish
oaks at Queen's University, Belfast, show a dramatic climatic
downturn around 2354-2345 BC, perhaps caused as the Earth entered the
path of a comet's meteor stream. Archaeological digs in Northern
Syria reveal, at around the same time, a cataclysmic environmental
event accompanied by destruction of mud-brick buildings caused by a
'blast from the sky', again pointing to an encounter with a giant
comet.
Dr Napier's article, 'Comets, dragons and prophets of doom' appears
in the second issue of Frontiers, published by the Particle Physics
and Astronomy Research Council. All material is copyright free.
Copies can be obtained from the Publicity Team on tel. 01793 442123,
fax 01793 442002 and e-mail PR_PUS@pparc.ac.uk
