A hundred years have passed since the most impressive and mysterious catastrophe of the 20th century, which occurred in the area of ​​the Tunguska River and received world recognition like the explosion of the Tunguska meteorite. For almost half a century, year after year, researchers go to the taiga, collect and analyze a lot of factual material related to the disaster, trying to understand what forces of nature played out on June 30, 1908 in the deserted interfluve of the Podkamennaya Tunguska and the Chunya River.

To explain the catastrophe, about a hundred different hypotheses were put forward, but not one of them is even partially able to explain the many facts that contradict each other, and first of all, our ideas.

Members of the permanent complex amateur expedition (CSE) half-jokingly, half-seriously claim that they are familiar with literally every mosquito in the explosion zone. But the problem remains unresolved, and its importance for science was very well emphasized by the permanent head of the CSE, Academician N.V. Vasiliev:

« The Tunguska meteorite is not a private scientific question, but a problem, because the immediate, and perhaps the distant prospect of studying the evolution of the comet-meteoritic matter of the solar system will largely depend on its solution.».

Let's consider what happened in the Tunguska taiga, and what connection this phenomenon has with the Sasovo explosion.

Events began even before the onset of the disaster. 8-10 days before it in many European countries and in Western Siberia the darkness of the night was replaced by some unusual illumination, as if a period of white nights had begun in these countries. Silvery clouds stretched from east to west arose everywhere, shining brightly in the twilight sky of sunrise and sunset, as was noted by one of the researchers E.L. Krinov, the approach of some unusual natural phenomenon. And this event happened.

June 30 at 7:15 a.m. According to local time, in the basin of the tributaries of the Podkamennaya Tunguska, Kimchu and Khushma rivers, about a hundred kilometers north of the Vanovar trading post, in the remote Siberian taiga, several monstrous explosions thundered. Millions of trees at a distance of up to 30 km along the radius from the explosion zone were uprooted and thrown to the ground.

A huge pillar of fire flew up over the taiga. Infernal heat and a roar fell upon the surroundings, dried wood and dry moss flared up. Rumble and explosions were heard at a distance of up to 1200 km from the explosion zone, shaking of the soil - an earthquake was felt up to 1000 km, light phenomena were observed at a distance of up to 700 km, windows of houses were knocked out at a distance of up to 300 km (see Fig. 9). The air wave from the explosions was recorded by many weather stations around the world and, according to some sources, circled the globe twice.

And all this was done, according to the currently accepted versions, by a space alien - a meteorite (?? - A.Ch.) of an unusually bright color, the movement of which was observed by thousands of residents of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. And they really watched it. But when the researchers began to study their testimony, determining the shape of the flying body and its color, the speed and direction of flight, the noise emitted and the color of the smoky tail, it turned out that

Witnesses at different ends of the vast territory observed a different picture, as it were, of one and the same phenomenon. Moreover, they observed the same phenomenon at different times, and this difference exceeded half a day, almost all observations took place after 7 hours 14 minutes, when the fireball, according to the registration of the earthquake, no longer existed, and the direction of its movement was eyewitnesses showed with a difference of up to 150 °, and few of them, with clear sky, observed a smoky tail, and a meteorite without a tail is astrophysical nonsense.

What eyewitnesses say

I'll start with information from June 29 (old style) 1908 of the Tomsk newspaper "Siberian Life" by a certain Afanasyev, with which E.L. Krinov "Tunguska meteorite" and which, with the same comments, is repeated by V.A. Bronshten in the book:

« In the middle of June 1908, at about 3 o'clock in the morning, a few sazhens from the railroad track, near the Filimonovo junction, not reaching 11 versts to Kansk, according to stories, a huge meteorite fell. His fall was accompanied by a terrible rumble and a deafening blow, which seemed to be heard at a distance of more than 40 miles.

Passengers approaching during the fall of the meteorite to the train siding were struck by an unusual rumble; the train was stopped by the driver, and the audience rushed to the place of the fall of the distant wanderer. But she could not examine the meteorite closer, as it was red-hot.

Subsequently, when it had already cooled down, various persons from the junction and engineers passing along the road examined it and, probably, dug it in. According to the stories of these people, almost all of the meteorite crashed into the ground - only its top sticks out; it represents a stone mass of a whitish color, reaching a size as if 6 cubic sazhens.

This note was reprinted in the tear-off calendar of the O. Kirchner publishing house in St. Petersburg for 1910. Everything in it, to apart from the fact of the fall(more precisely span) giant meteorite, powerful sound phenomena (which were heard much further than 40 versts) and the fact of the train stopping are a complete fiction. In addition, the train was not a passenger train, but a freight one, and the frightened driver stopped it not at the Filimonov siding, but at the Lyalka siding.

The stories about the public that poured out of the train to look at the heavenly wanderer, that it was red-hot, had a whitish color, a volume of 6 cubic fathoms, about the engineers who began to dig in it, and so on - all this was invented by the author of the article or persons who told him these sensational details.

V.A. Bronshten ends quoting the book with this. But E.L. Krinov continues a little further: "Siberian life" dated June 27(old style) 1908 reports that at the time of the fall of the meteorite, a strong shaking of the soil was observed(whether only at the time of the fall - A.Ch.), and near the village of Lovat (Kansky district of the Yenisei region) two strong explosions were heard, similar to the shots of large-caliber guns».

And then, according to E.L. Krinov, it turns out that L.A. Kulik found a witness to the fall of a meteorite near the railway - a railway employee I.I. Ilyinsky, who was on duty at that moment at the Lyalka siding, waiting for a freight train from Kansk (or maybe a freight train, when one or two local passenger cars were hooked up to the freight train, in those days there were such cars, especially in Siberia, and , therefore, the passengers could be. - A.Ch.) and who witnessed the fall of a meteorite.

He felt as if a strong shaking of the air and heard a rumble, which he took for "an earthquake or some other a natural phenomenon". The driver was so frightened by the rumble and shaking of the air that he stopped the train about a verst and a half from the siding, and upon arrival at the siding demanded that the train be inspected for its serviceability. I.I. Ilyinsky testifies that “different people came from the Tomsk Polytechnic Institute, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, but they did not succeed in finding a meteorite, and those stones (it seems that there were a lot of them here too - A.Ch.), which at first were considered meteorites, turned out to be a local breed (i.e., as if formed on earth, and did not fall from the sky - A.Ch.).

E.L. Krinov also reports that in his first report, L.A. Kulik points out that

On June 17 (30), 1908, at 5-8 o’clock in the morning, a bright meteorite really swept over the Yenisei province, in the general direction from south to north, which fell in the area of ​​the Ognia River, the left tributary of the Vanovara River ...

The fall of the meteorite was accompanied by a bright glow, a dark cloud at the “detention point”, thunder peals, among which three four peals stood out in their strength from the general series of sounds. L.A. Kulik also noted the catastrophic effect of the head air wave (if there is a “detention point”, then where does the “head wave” come from - A.Ch.), which, as the Evenks said (their messages were received from third parties), at the point of its contact with the ground in the area of ​​the Ognia River (I note that modern science does not record any contact with the ground in this place, and therefore does not study - A.Ch.) not only broke and felled trees over a large area, but even dammed the Ognia River, as if bringing down into it coastal cliffs. (Ognia is the northernmost left tributary of the Vanavara River, has a length of about 40 km, is located near the Shishkovsky fallout, about a third of the way from it to the Kulikovsky fallout.

This information was confirmed in a letter to L.E. Kulik engineer V.P. Gundobin, who " pointed out that the nomad camps of these Evenks were located in the region of the Ognia River, that the Evenk Dushenchi, whom V.P. Gundobin, confirmed that there was a fire on the Ognia River at the indicated time, that there"mountain collapsed" and that this mountain is considered cursed by the Evenks».

And one more very interesting message received from the Evenk Lyutchekan, who conducted the surveys, I.M. Suslov: " In autumn, Lyutchekan and Akulina were found on the northeastern slope of the Lakura ridge, near the source of the Makirti River, "dry river", representing a furrow that ended in a large pit littered with earth».

The formation of a “dry river” and pits to the north of the Lakura ridge was told by Andrey Onkul, an Evenk who, at about half the distance between the Kimchu and Khushma rivers, saw a large pit, about which none of the Evenks knew anything before.

All researchers of the Tunguska phenomenon know about the existence of this "dry river", although none of them have seen it. And they know it because it could have been formed by a fragment of a meteorite that “struck” along the slope of the ridge and got stuck deep in a hole under a layer of soil. That is, this phenomenon fit into the mainstream of the meteorite hypothesis and could serve as proof of it if a fragment of a meteorite was found in the “big hole”.

« S. Kezhemskoe. On the 17th, an extraordinary atmospheric phenomenon was noticed in the local area. At 7 hours 43 minutes. in the morning there was a noise as if from a strong wind. Immediately after this, a terrible blow was heard, accompanied by an earthquake, from which the buildings literally shook, and it seemed as if a strong blow had been made on the building by some huge log or heavy stone. The first blow was followed by a second, of the same force, and a third.

Then - the time interval between the first and third impacts was accompanied by an unusual underground rumble, similar to the sound from the rails, along which, as it were, a dozen trains passed at the same time. And then, for 5-6 minutes, exactly the artillery fire took place: about 50-60 strikes followed at short, almost identical intervals. Gradually, the blows became weaker towards the end. After a 1.5-2 minute break after the end of the continuous "firing" there was another six blows after another, like distant cannon shots, but still distinctly audible and felt by the shaking of the earth.

The sky looked completely clear. There was no wind or clouds. But with careful observation in the north, i.e. where blows seemed to be heard, something similar to an ashy cloud was clearly seen on the horizon, which, gradually decreasing, became more transparent and by 2-3 o'clock. day is completely gone.

The same phenomenon, according to the information received, was also observed in the surrounding villages of Angara at a distance of 300 versts.(down and up) with the same strength. There were cases when glass in folding frames was broken from shaking houses. How strong the first blows were can be judged by the fact that in some cases horses and people fell from their feet.

As eyewitnesses say, before the first explosions began to be heard(beats) the sky was cut from south to north with a tendency to the northeast by some kind of celestial body of a fiery type, but behind the speed (and most importantly - unexpectedness) of the flight, neither its size nor shape could be discerned.

But on the other hand, many in different villages saw that with the touch of a flying object to the horizon, in the place where the peculiar cloud indicated above was later noticed, but much lower than the location of the latter, at the level of the forest peaks, a huge flame seemed to flare up, bifurcating the sky. The radiance lasted, apparently, not less than a minute, since it was also noticed by many peasants who were on arable land. As soon as the "flame" disappeared, blows immediately rang out.

With an ominous silence in the air, it was felt that some extraordinary phenomenon was taking place in nature. On an island opposite the village, horses and cows began to scream and run from end to end. It seemed that the earth was about to open up, and everything would fall into the abyss. Terrible blows were heard from somewhere, shaking the air, and the invisibility of the source inspired some superstitious fear. Literally took aback. ..".

I will cite the testimony of some eyewitnesses of the Tunguska phenomenon, described by E.L. Krinov and repeated by Zolotov A.V. :

1. Sarychev E.E. near the city of Kansk (testimony in 1921): “.. .I was a leather master and in the summer(closer to spring) about 8 hours(before lunch) with workers washed wool on the banks of the river. Cana. Suddenly, at first, a noise was heard, like from the wings of a frightened bird, in the direction from south to east, towards the village of Antsyr, and a wave like a swell went upstream along the river. After that, one sharp blow followed, and after it - deaf, as if underground peals.

The blow was so strong that one of the workers, E.S. Vlasov fell into the water. With the appearance of noise in the air, a kind of radiance of a circular shape appeared, about half the size of the moon, with a bluish tinge, quickly flying from Filimonov to Irkutsk. Behind the radiance there was a trace in the form of a bluish strip, stretching along the entire path and then gradually disappearing from the end. The radiance, without bursting, disappeared behind the mountain. I could not record the duration of the phenomenon, but it was very short. The weather was perfectly clear and it was quiet.”

2. Goloshchekin A. from the village of Kamenskoye, located 600 km to the west-southwest of the alleged "epicenter" (the westernmost observation point) reported in a letter dated June 30, 1908 "... that at 7 o'clock in the morning in the village of Kolomenskoye the following phenomenon was observed: three underground thunder strikes were heard in the direction from the north-west, following one after another, some observed a shaking.

From the inquiries of local residents, he learned that a few minutes earlier, some of them had seen, as it were, a body more than a arshin long, oblong in shape, and tapering towards one end, as if torn off from the Sun; his head was bright as the sun, and the rest of it was a more misty color. This body, having flown through space, fell in the northeast.

3. Kokorkin I.V., 330 km SW. " It was at 5:00 am on June 17, 1908. He sat at the helmsman of the boat(on the Angara River). .. .a bluish light flashed in the north and a fiery body swept from the south significantly more sun, which left a wide streak of light: then such a cannonade broke out that all the workers who were in the boat rushed to hide in the cabin, forgetting about the danger threatening from the side of the threshold.

The first beats were weaker, and then they got stronger, the sound effect, by his definition, lasted 3-5 minutes. The power of the sounds was so great that the boatmen were completely demoralized; and it cost a lot of effort to get them back to their places in the boat.”

4. Privalikhin S.I. (village of Kovy, 300 km to the south-southwest) in 1930 said: “ I do not remember the date, month and year when the meteorite fell, but it was during the struggle of vapors on a perfectly clear day in the morning. The sun has already risen quite high. I was about 15 years old at that time. I was 10 versts from the village of Kova on arable land.

As soon as I had time to harness the horse to the harrow, I suddenly heard, as it were, a strong shot from a gun (one blow) to my right. I immediately turned around and saw a kind of elongated flame flying: the forehead is wider, and the tail is narrower, the color is like fire during the day, white, many times larger than the Sun, but much weaker in brightness, so that it was possible to look at it. In the middle of the flame, as it were, dust remained, it twisted in balls, and blue streaks remained from the flame.

It flew fast, three minutes. The flame disappeared behind the mane of mountains between north and west (a little west of the north). I saw him flying at a height a little less than half the distance between the zenith and the horizon, above the summer sun setting. As soon as the flames disappeared, sounds were heard stronger than rifle shots, the earth was trembling and the glass was heard rattling in the windows of the winter hut, where I ran in as soon as I saw the flames. Other peasants, who were harrowing along with me, ran there in fright.

5. A resident of Kezhmy I.A. Kogorin, interviewed by E.L. Krinov, in 1930 said: " Together with Bryukhanov and others(person 5-6) I was in a boat on the river. Angara in Kovu to mine millstones. Near the village of Zaimskaya(about 260 km to SSW) we drove up to the shore and, having strengthened the boat near the shore, went"on the hillock" in a village located directly to the south.

Moving a few steps away from the boat, we saw to our right (directly to the west) a fiery red flame flying obliquely to the Earth to the north, as if shot from a gun, three times larger than the Sun, but not brighter than it, it was possible to look at it, and they saw how the flame disappeared beyond the horizon in the northwest.

We noticed the flame when it already appeared in the sky. As soon as the flames touched the ground, sounds like continuous firing from cannons were heard. The sounds lasted no more than half an hour. During the sounds, the ground trembled, the glass in the windows rattled and continued to rattle when we entered the house. The water in the river was calm.”

6. A resident of Kezhmy A.K. Bryukhanov: "... I haven't had time yetget dressed completely after the bath, I hear a noise. He jumped out, as he was, into the street and immediately threw a glance at the sky, because you can hear the noise from there. And I see: blue, green, red, hot(orange) stripes, but they go to the sky, and they are as wide as the street. The stripes went out, and the roar was heard again, and the earth shook.

Then the stripes appeared again, and went "under the sea". It seemed that they were about 20 versts from Kezma. Well, then I heard that the end of them was far away, in the Tunguska camp. The Tungus told that they burned 4 storehouses of all property and “deer”, 50 bread. And a ditch was dug near the parking lot, and the Tungus find some stones in it».

7. This is how the flight of the same (??) Tunguska meteorite is described by V.K. Penegin and E.A. Penegina from the village of Kondrashino, right bank of the Lena River:

« The ball was red like fire, like a tomato. There was no smoke, no trace. The sound was long, it was terrifying, the sound was strong, as if a rock was being blown up nearby, they thought that it fell right behind the river. Disappeared next to the Cymbal rock, on the left. Flew in front of the rock, about 1/3 below the top. From Tsimbala I flew about two kilometers and went sharply to the right, a very sharp angle. There was nothing to be seen where he had fled. He did not descend, flew horizontally».

8. In the newspaper "Siberia" dated July 2, 1908 (Irkutsk), S. Kulesh described the phenomenon: " On the 17th of June in the morning at the beginning of 9 o'clock in the morning we observed some unusual phenomenon of nature. In the village of N.-Karelinsky(versts 200 from Kirensk to the north) the peasants saw in the northwest, quite high above the horizon, some extremely strong(can't watch) a body glowing with a white bluish light, moving from top to bottom for 10 minutes.

The body was presented in the form of a "pipe", those. cylindrical. The sky was cloudless, only not high above the horizon, in the same direction in which the luminous body was observed, a small dark cloud was noticeable. It was hot, dry. Getting closer to the ground(forest?) the shiny body, as it were, blurred, in its place a huge puff of black smoke formed and an extremely strong knock was heard(not thunder) as if from large falling stones or cannon fire.

All buildings shook. At the same time, flames of an indefinite shape began to burst out of the cloud. I (S. Kulesh) I was in the forest at that time, about 6 versts from Kirensk to the north, and in the northwest I heard, as it were, cannon fire, repeated intermittently for at least 15 minutes several times(at least 10).

In Kirensk, glass rattled in some houses in the walls facing northwest. These sounds, as it turned out later, were heard in the village. Podkamensky. ...". At the same time, in Kirensk, some observed in the northwest, as it were, a fiery red ball, moving, according to the testimony of some, horizontally, and according to the testimony of others, very obliquely.

Near Chechuisk, a peasant driving across the field observed the same thing in the northwest. Near Kirensk, in the village of Voronina, the peasants saw a fireball that fell to the southeast of them (ie, in the direction opposite to that where the village of Karelinskoye is located).

The phenomenon aroused a lot of rumors. Some say that this is a huge meteorite, others - that it is ball lightning (or a whole series of them). At about 2 o'clock between Kirensk and N.-Karelinsky (closer to Kirensk) on the same day there was an ordinary thunderstorm with heavy rain and hail.

9. The head of the Nizhne-Ilimsk department (about 420 km to SSE) Vakulin in a letter dated June 28, 1908: “ Tuesday, June 17 at around 8 am(watch not checked) according to the stories of a large circle of local residents, they initially noticed a fireball descending indirectly to the horizon from east to west in a northwestern direction, which, when approaching the ground, turned into a pillar of fire and instantly disappeared: after disappearing in this direction, a cloud of smoke was seen rising up from the earth.

A few minutes later there was a strong noise in the air with deaf separate blows, similar to thunder peals. These blows were followed by about 8 strong blows, similar to cannon shots. The very last blow was whistling and especially strong, from which the surface of the earth and buildings slightly swayed ...

These phenomena are also confirmed by the inhabitants of the terminal villages of the Nizhne-Ilimsk volost, part of the Kocheng and Karanchan volosts, located from east to west, over a space of about 300 versts.

10. The head of the Kirensk meteorological station, located at a distance of about 500 km southeast of the explosion site, G.I. Kulesh wrote in his letter of June 23 (old style) 1908: “ On June 17 (according to the old style) an unusual phenomenon was observed in the north-west of Kirensk, lasting from about 7 hours 15 minutes to 8 hours in the morning ... I heard muffled sounds, but mistook them for volleys of gun shots on a military field across the Kirenga River. Having finished the work, I looked at the barograph tape and, to my surprise, noticed a line next to the line made at 7 o'clock in the morning(hourly timestamp) .. . , during the work I did not get up from my seat ... and no one entered the room.»

Further, he said that, according to eyewitnesses, at 7:15 am in the north-west, a pillar of fire appeared, four sazhens in diameter, in the form of a spear. When the pillar disappeared, five strong jerky blows were heard, as from a cannon, quickly and distinctly following one after another; then a thick cloud appeared in this place.

Fifteen minutes later, the same blows were heard again, another fifteen minutes later the same thing happened again. The carrier, a former soldier and in general a man of experience and development, counted fourteen blows. According to his duty, he was on the shore and observed the whole phenomenon from beginning to end. The pillar of fire was seen by many, but the blows were still heard a large number of people..."

But the description of the explosion observed from Kirensk is not limited to this. Here is the addition to it that A. Olkhovatov leads and publishes with criticism of experts considering the Tunguska phenomenon:

« Meteorites" take from eyewitness accounts only what suits them, and discard everything that contradicts the "fall of a meteorite". As an illustration, I will quote a well-known astronomer, one of the best specialists in meteorite phenomena and the Tunguska phenomenon V.A. Bronshten (the quote is opened and closed in square brackets).

Here is how he publishes the testimony of eyewitness Ivan Suvorov (father of the leader of the amateur expedition of 1934, K.I. Suvorov, the events take place in the city of Kirensk):

[« Ivan liked to get up early and run one verst. The morning of June 30, 1908 was no exception. This morning was cloudless, the sun shone brightly with complete calm.

Suddenly, Ivan's attention was attracted by an ever-increasing noise emanating, as it seemed to him, from the southeast side of the sky. Nothing like this was felt from the east, nor from the north, nor from the west. The sound was getting closer. "It all started, wrote Ivan Suvorov, - according to my watch, verified the day before at the post office of Kirensk, at 6 hours 58 minutes local time. The gradually approaching source of noise began to be heard from the south-southwest side and moved to the west-north-west direction, which coincided with the column of fire that shot up at 7:15 in the morning.

Ivan Suvorov made this entry on the margins of an illustrated Bible that was used in the family. In 1929 - 1930, when Komsomol atheists began to go from house to house and seize religious literature, Agrepina Vasilievna herself threw the precious Bible into the fire. So the recordings of Ivan Suvorov perished.

And yet they did not disappear - they remained in the memory of his son, Konstantin Suvorov, who read his father's story many times and then restored it.

Already in the 70s, members of an amateur expedition led by L.E. Epictetova compiled a complete catalog of eyewitness testimonies of the Tunguska phenomenon. This catalog contains 708 eyewitness statements. Ivan Suvorov thus became seven hundred and ninth.

What surprises us in these testimonies? ( pay special attention to what surprises"Meteorite" V.A. Bronshten- A.O.) First of all, the time of the beginning of the audibility of the anomalous sound is 6 hours 58 minutes, while the fiery column shot up, in full agreement with other definitions at 7 hours 15 minutes. The Tunguska fireball could not fly, making a sound, for 17 minutes. During this time, at a speed of 30 km∕sec, it would fly 30,000 km, that is, at 6 hours 58 minutes it would be far beyond the atmosphere and could not make any sounds. This means that this event does not refer to the beginning of the appearance of the sound, but to some other event, for example, to Ivan leaving the house.

The correct indication of the moment of the explosion forces us to reject all other possible assumptions: for example, that Ivan's clock was 17 minutes behind in a day, or that the local time of Kirensk was very different from the local times of other points. Moreover, in the same Kirensk, the director of the weather station G.K. Kulesh recorded the arrival of an air wave (that is, the same sounds) after 7 o'clock, according to the barograph readings.

Just as inaccurately, Ivan recorded the direction from which the sounds came. The Tunguska fireball flew by the most accurate definitions, north of Kirensk. The nearest point was from it to the northeast. Then the car moved to the north and, finally, to the northwest.

According to E.L. Krinov in his book “The Tunguska meteorite” (M.: AN SSSR. 1949, p. 54), many eyewitnesses later claimed that they heard the sound before they saw the fireball (which in fact could not be [could not be, of course, according to the "meteorite" - A.O.]). Apparently, this is some property of inexperienced observers who reported what they saw much later, several years after the event.] (End of quote from V.A. Bronshten).

11. A resident of the Vanavara trading post S.B. Semenov, interviewed - L.A. Kulik in 1927 and E.L. Krinov in 1930 said: “ I don’t remember the exact year, but more than 20 years ago, while plowing fallows for breakfast, I was sitting on the porch of the house at the Vanavara trading post and facing north.

As soon as I swung an ax to fill a hoop on a tub, when suddenly in the north, above the Tunguska road, the sky split in two and it was wide and high above the forest (as Semyonov showed, at an altitude of about 50o) a fire appeared that covered the entire northern part of the sky. At that moment, I became so hot, as if my shirt was on fire, and the heat came from the north side.

I wanted to tear and throw off my shirt, but at that moment the sky slammed shut and there was a strong blow. I was thrown from the porch three fathoms. At first I fainted, but my wife ran out of the hut and led me into the hut. After the blow, there was such a knock, as if stones were falling from the sky or firing from cannons, the earth trembled, and when I lay on the ground, I pressed my head, fearing that the stones would not break my head.

At that moment, when the sky opened up, a hot wind swept past the huts from the north, like from a cannon, which left traces on the ground in the form of paths and damaged the growing onion. Then it turned out that many panes of glass in the windows were broken, and the iron plate of the lock near the door was broken near the barn.

11. Semenov's daughter, A.S. Kosolapova, interviewed by E.L. Krinov in 1930, at the age of 41, told the following: “ I was 19 years old, and during the fall of the meteorite, I was at the Vanavara trading post. Marfa Bryukhanov and I came to the key(behind the trading post bath) by water. Marfa began to draw water, and I stood beside her, facing north. Suddenly I saw in front of me in the north that the sky opened up to the very earth and a fire blazed.

We were frightened, but the sky closed again and after that there were blows similar to shots ... Running up to the house, we saw my father, S.E. Semyonov, lying unconscious by the barn opposite the porch of the house.

Martha and I led him into the hut. Whether it was hot at the time of the appearance of the fire, I do not remember. At this time, we were very scared. During the blows, the earth and the huts trembled violently, and earth fell from the ceilings in the huts. The sounds at first were very strong and were heard directly above the head, and then gradually became quieter and quieter.».

Of interest are the testimonies of eyewitnesses who at the time of the disaster were directly within the zone of destruction.

12. Closest to the epicenter was the chum of the Evenks of Ivan and Akulina, even in the zone of light burn of trees at a distance, probably about 25-30 km to the ESE. Later, Akulina from the Machakutyr clan told (recorded by I. Suslov):

« There were three of us in the plague: me and my husband Ivan and old man Vasily, the son of Okhchen. Suddenly, someone strongly pushed our chum. I got scared, screamed, woke up Ivan, we began to get out of the sleeping bag. We see Vasily getting out. Before Ivan and I had time to get out and stand on our feet, someone again strongly pushed our chum, and we fell to the ground. The old man Vasily also fell on us, as if someone had abandoned him. Noise was heard all around, someone thundered and knocked on the elune(suede tire plague. - I.S.).

Suddenly it became very light, the bright sun was shining on us, a strong wind was blowing. Then someone fired hard, as if the ice had burst on Katanga, and the Uchir-dancer immediately flew in(tornado - I.S.), grabbed the elune, twirled it and dragged it somewhere. Only dukach remained(the skeleton of a plague of 30 poles - I.S.). I was completely scared and became butcho(lost consciousness - I.S.), but I see: the uchir is dancing. I screamed and immediately became alive again(woke up. - I.S.).

Uchir dumped a dukcha on me and hurt my leg with the sixth. I crawled out from under the poles and cried: the chest with dishes was thrown out of the tent, and it is lying far away, open, and many cups are broken. I look at our forest and do not see it. Many forests stand without branches, without leaves. There are many, many forests on the ground. Dry forests, branches, deer moss are burning on the ground. I look, some clothes are on fire, I come up and see - our hare blanket and our fur bag, in which Ivan and I slept.

I went to look for Ivan and the old man. I look, something is hanging on a knot of bare larch. She came up, pulled the stick and took it off. It was our furs, which used to hang tied to chum poles. The fox skins were burned, the ermine became yellowish and dirty, covered in soot. Many squirrel skins were wrinkled and dry.

I took the furs, wept, and went to look for my men. And on the ground dry land burns and burns, smoke is all around. Suddenly I hear someone moaning softly. I ran to the voice and saw Ivan. He lay on the ground between the branches of a large forest. His arm broke on a log, the bone tore his shirt and stuck out, blood dried on it. Then I fell and became a bucho again. But soon she was alive again. Ivan "woke up", began to moan and cry louder.

Uchir threw Ivan close. If you put ten tents side by side, then he fell behind the last tent, very close to the place where I removed the furs from the knot».

13. Chum of the Evenki brothers Chekarencha and Chuchancha - stood on the river. Avarkitte (Hovokikte) at a distance of about 40 km SSE from the epicenter. They told:

« .. .Suddenly both woke up at once: someone was pushing us. We heard a whistle and felt a strong wind. Chekaren still shouted to me: “Do you hear how many goldeneyes or mergansers fly? After all, we were still in the plague, and we could not see what was happening in the forest. Suddenly someone pushed me again, so hard that I hit my head on the plague pole and then fell on the hot coals in the hearth. I was frightened. Chekaren was also frightened, grabbed the pole ...

Behind the tent there was some kind of noise, one could hear how the woods were falling. Chekaren and I got out of the bags and already wanted to jump out of the tent, but suddenly thunder struck very hard. It was the first blow. The earth began to twitch and sway, a strong wind hit the tent and knocked it down. I was firmly pressed down by the poles, but my head was not covered, because the elune was up.

Then I saw a terrible miracle: the woods were falling, the needles were burning on them, the dry wood was burning on the ground, the deer moss was burning. The smoke is all around, it hurts the eyes, it's hot, very hot, you can burn. Suddenly, over the mountain, where the forest had already fallen, it became very light, and how would you say that the second Sun appeared, the Russians would say: it suddenly flashed unexpectedly, it hurt my eyes, and I even closed them.

It looked like what the Russians call lightning. And immediately agdylyan, a strong thunder. It was the second blow. The morning was sunny, there were no clouds, our Sun shone brightly, as always, and then a second sun appeared! With difficulty, Chekaren and I crawled out from under the poles and the elune.

After that, we saw, as if above, but in a different place, it flashed again, and there was a strong thunder. It was the third blow. The wind blew on us, knocked us off our feet, hit us on a fallen tree. We followed the falling trees, saw how their tops broke, looked at the fire. Suddenly Chekaren shouted:"Look Up" - and showed with his hand. I looked there and again I saw lightning, it flashed and struck again, Agdylyan did»…

Here we should add another evidence of the Evenki T.N. Liversherova from the Strelka trading post: “Pektrume was strange ... We then stood on Kimcha. There were eight plagues in the camp. We were still sleeping, like a storm and thunder came to us. Trees fell, plagues flew away, and people, along with their beds, were thrown up from the ground many times. They were unconscious until the evening. who even died. My husband also died. And Aksiri (God of Heaven) left me alive ... ".

In the same place: “Local residents, who were interviewed by scientists who were part of the expedition, claimed that a moment before the terrible outbreak, trees and yurts soared into the air in some places, separate areas of soil (on the hills), waves went against the current on the rivers.”

There is reason to believe that the Tunguska explosion caused disturbances in the properties of rocks in the disaster area, and these changes are very similar to those that can be expected when rocks are irradiated with high-energy ionizing radiation. The effect is as incomprehensible as the previous one.

The phenomenon of the Tunguska meteorite, the history of which has been measured for several decades, is undoubtedly one of the most exciting mysteries of nature, the key to solving which has not yet been found.

Accumulated for last years The vast factual material leaves no doubt about the complexity and non-triviality of this phenomenon, which can be called a "meteorite fall" only because of historically established traditions. The scale of the event, the variety of effects generated by it, their obvious irreducibility to traditional meteoretic notions, the presence of a number of paradoxes reflecting its striking originality, has generated and continues to generate ongoing attempts to explain it from non-trivial positions.

The book presented to the attention of the reader is written in this vein. It is debatable and this is its main advantage - for, even if the main positions of the authors are controversial, the concept developed by them can rightfully serve as the basis for a broad discussion of the nature of the Tunguska phenomenon.

The undoubted merit of the authors is an in-depth analysis of the entire array of testimonies related to Tunguska fall. To the reader, unfamiliar with the long history of the study of this phenomenon, rich in unexpected twists, a statement of this kind may seem hyperbole. Meanwhile, this is completely true: the researchers of the Tunguska problem have so far operated, as a rule, with separate groups of indications to one degree or another corresponding to their personal ideas, without focusing their attention on numerous contradictions that reflect the objectively existing situation. The conclusion of the authors that the published testimonies relate not to one, but to at least two space objects is quite reasonable and convincing, although the conclusions they draw on this basis are not indisputable.

The main idea of ​​the book about the plasma nature of the Tunguska meteorite will probably cause a lot of criticism. The very existence of solar system such formations have not yet been proven, although one can hardly deny it a priori. The possibility of their deep penetration into the atmosphere of planets is also problematic, taking into account the cosmic velocity of plasmoids postulated by the authors. At the same time, one cannot ignore the fact that the hypothesis proposed by the authors removes a number of paradoxes that have not been explained so far, including the paradox of the absence of cosmic matter in the area where the Tunguska cosmic body fell, which could be confidently identified with the remains of an exploded meteorite.

Regardless of the acceptance or rejection of the main assumptions set forth in the monograph, it seems understandable to attempt to revise the existing ideas about the geomagnetic effect caused by the Tunguska catastrophe. The considerations presented by the authors cast doubt on the view that has taken root in the literature, according to which this geophysical effect is explained by the arrival of a shock wave in the ionosphere. Although the alternative mechanism proposed by them is not indisputable, since it is closed to the idea of ​​the plasma nature of the "meteorite", such a revision can independently play an important role in the further development of the theory of the Tunguska meteorite, because the geomagnetic effect certainly conceals information about the nature of cosmic summer events of fundamental importance. 1908

Scientific monographs devoted to a particular problem can be turned into its past, summing up the results of the next stage of scientific research, and into its future, outlining the paths for further work, sometimes dotted, not always indisputable, but certainly requiring reflection. That is how we view this book. Her exit means the beginning of the next circle scientific discussion, and, consequently, a new step forward on the path to understanding the nature of the Tunguska phenomenon - a phenomenon whose fundamental significance is far from being fully appreciated by modern science of the Cosmos and the Earth.

Introduction

The unusualness, scale and complexity of the Tunguska phenomenon expanded the area of ​​its study from the episode of a local explosion through the global geophysical reaction of the Earth to solar-terrestrial relationships. That is why it was necessary in this work to resort to sections on geomagnetism and solar-terrestrial relationships. This is all the more useful since the issues of geoeffectiveness of the Tunguska phenomenon are directly related to seismic, baric and electromagnetic processes.

The presentation of a variety of material, by necessity, is multi-level - from a general analysis of the factual information of eyewitnesses, special issues of the geophysical portrait of the Earth, new materials on solar-terrestrial relations, to physical questions of the origin and existence of plasmoids. To avoid the presentation of "literal truths" and the analytical complexity of some issues requiring complexation scientific directions, the authors chose the non-formalized level of presentation of the problem as the main one. Formulas are given only where they work as necessary arguments, or are an illustration of the computational capabilities of the model being developed.

Modern research, developing in the direction of discovering regional, planetary relationships between the Earth and the Sun, has grown significantly and deepened. Despite the relatively short period of its development, solar-terrestrial physics uses a very wide range of research and technical developments in terrestrial and space (or rather, close-space) execution. New theoretical directions are emerging, significant assumptions, hypotheses and even technical projects are being expressed. It is characteristic that the influx of information in this direction modifies the existing general picture of the solar system. The flow of unexpected information coming from stationary orbits and probes is supplemented by unearthly research and experiments.

The presentation of the hypothesis about the solar origin of the main point of the Tunguska phenomenon, where appropriate, will correspond to the terminological list presented in this paper. It should be emphasized that the results of many years of various studies have only extended the list of issues to be resolved.

Not to mention the problem as a whole, the questions of the exact value of the TNT equivalent, the fraction of light energy, turned out to be unspecified, or unclear at all; electrical disturbances northern hemisphere and local fast magnetic storm; the amount of the substance; heights of the beginning of energy release; intensity and geometry thermal radiation; trajectories; seismic disturbance details; optical harbingers of an explosion; weather anomalies on the day of the explosion, previous and subsequent changes in the biosphere, etc.

It is obvious that the list of questions itself brings the problem to an area that is far from the capabilities of meteor-bolide models. That is why we consider it appropriate to analyze this phenomenon by resorting to a number of new assumptions and, above all, to the assumption that there is a new class of cosmic bodies in the solar system. Indirect and partially direct information underlying this assumption is available. However, actual data on the structure, composition, energy-information significance of such formations in the process of solar-terrestrial relationships still require their accumulation and interpretation.

We have no reason to reject the colorful and large-scale picture of the development of the Tunguska phenomenon in time and space, drawn by eyewitnesses. Moreover, a number of reports of that time, together with new data on the registration of unusual phenomena in the atmosphere and near space, were taken into account by us when constructing a hypothesis. The transition from hypotheses within the framework of meteoritics to a hypothesis of a heliogeophysical nature, in our opinion, contributes to the removal of the problem from theoretical and research uncertainty.

As the quantity and variety of initial data were expanded, as well as the main ideas and assumptions about the nature of the Tunguska phenomenon were taken into account, a need arose for some critical remarks and clarifications. Excessive emancipation from specific facts, even in the latest publications, allows for very simplified interpretations of the problem. So, for example, E.R. Michaels expresses (IMPACT, No. 3, 1983, p. 116) the following: “However, we have every reason to assert ...: the Tunguska meteorite, which fell in Siberia in 1908, presumably weighed 1 million tons, and the rock volume , soil and water that were thrown out as a result of its fall, 400 times the mass of the meteorite itself. This excerpt is a kind of sum of impressions and psychological reactions to the phenomenon under study. Such statements are not isolated, however, in order to avoid polemical whirlpools, we rejected the proposal to impose a logical structure on the epistolary heritage of the Tunguska meteorite. Apparently, this work may turn out to be useful and even inevitable in the future. But in this future, a range of tasks for new authors will unfold. The main goal, as well as the sub-goals of this work, which are feathering it, is the introduction and justification of a new view of the Tunguska phenomenon, as a link in solar-terrestrial relationships. But it is not our task to establish a measure of luck and conformity in an attempt. Time will take upon itself the burden of summarizing and correcting the judgments and arguments expressed.

The history of our planet is rich in bright and unusual phenomena that have not yet been scientific explanation. The level of knowledge of the surrounding world of modern science is high, but in some cases a person is not able to explain the true nature of events. Ignorance breeds mystery, and mystery is overgrown with theories and assumptions. The mystery of the Tunguska meteorite is a vivid confirmation of this.

Facts and analysis of the phenomenon

The disaster, which is considered one of the most mysterious and inexplicable phenomena in modern history, occurred on June 30, 1908. In the sky over the deaf and deserted regions of the Siberian taiga, a huge cosmic body swept past. The finale of his rapid flight was the strongest air explosion that occurred in the basin of the Podkamennaya Tunguska River. Despite the fact that the celestial body exploded at an altitude of about 10 km, the consequences of the explosion were colossal. According to modern estimates of scientists, its strength varied in the range of 10-50 megatons of TNT equivalent. For comparison: atomic bomb, dropped on Hiroshima, had a capacity of 13-18 Kt. Soil vibrations after the catastrophe in the Siberian taiga were recorded in almost all observatories on the planet from Alaska to Melbourne, and the shock wave circled the globe four times. Electromagnetic disturbances caused by the explosion disabled radio communications for several hours.

In the first minutes after the catastrophe, unusual atmospheric phenomena were observed in the sky over the entire planet. The inhabitants of Athens and Madrid saw for the first time auroras, and in the southern latitudes the nights were bright for a week after the fall.

Scientists around the world have put forward hypotheses about what really happened. It was believed that so massive disaster, which shook the entire planet, was the result of the fall of a large meteorite. The mass of the celestial body that the Earth collided with could be tens, hundreds of tons.

The Podkamennaya Tunguska River, the approximate place where the meteorite fell, gave the name to the phenomenon. The remoteness of these places from civilization and the low technical level of scientific technology did not allow to accurately determine the coordinates of the fall of a celestial body and determine the true scale of the catastrophe in hot pursuit.

A little later, when some details of what happened became known, eyewitness accounts and photos from the crash site appeared, scientists began to more often tend to the point of view that the Earth had collided with an object of unknown nature. It has been speculated that it may have been a comet. Modern versions put forward by researchers and enthusiasts are more creative. Some consider the Tunguska meteorite a consequence of the fall spaceship extraterrestrial origin, others talk about the earthly origin of the Tunguska phenomenon caused by the explosion of a powerful nuclear bomb.

However, there is still no reasonable and generally accepted conclusion about what happened, despite the fact that today there are all the necessary technical means for a detailed study of the phenomenon. The mystery of the Tunguska meteorite is comparable in its attractiveness and the number of assumptions with the riddle of the Bermuda Triangle.

The main versions of the scientific community

No wonder they say: the first impression is the best. In this context, we can say that the first version of the meteorite nature of the catastrophe that happened in 1908 is the most reliable and plausible.

Today, any schoolchild can find the place where the Tunguska meteorite fell on the map, but 100 years ago it was quite difficult to determine the exact location of the cataclysm that shook the Siberian taiga. As many as 13 years passed before scientists paid close attention to the Tunguska catastrophe. The credit for this belongs to the Russian geophysicist Leonid Kulik, who in the early 1920s organized the first expeditions to Eastern Siberia in order to shed light on mysterious events.

The scientist managed to collect a sufficient amount of information about the catastrophe, stubbornly adhering to the version of the cosmic origin of the explosion of the Tunguska meteorite. The first Soviet expeditions led by Kulik made it possible to get a more accurate idea of ​​what actually happened in the Siberian taiga in the summer of 1908.

The scientist was convinced of the meteorite nature of the object that shook the Earth, so he stubbornly searched for the crater of the Tunguska meteorite. It was Leonid Alekseevich Kulik who first saw the crash site and took photographs of the crash site. However, the scientist's attempts to find fragments or fragments of the Tunguska meteorite were unsuccessful. There was also no funnel, which inevitably had to remain on the surface of the earth after a collision with a space object of this size. A detailed study of this area and the calculations carried out by Kulik gave reason to believe that the destruction of the meteorite occurred at a height and was accompanied by an explosion of great force.

At the site of the fall or explosion of the object, soil samples and fragments of wood were taken, which were carefully studied. In the proposed area, on a huge area (more than 2 thousand hectares), the forest was felled. Moreover, the tree trunks lay in the radial direction, with their tops from the center of an imaginary circle. However, the most curious is the fact that in the center of the circle the trees remained unharmed. This information gave reason to believe that the Earth collided with a comet. At the same time, as a result of the explosion, the comet collapsed, and most of the fragments of the celestial body evaporated in the atmosphere before reaching the surface. Other researchers have suggested that the Earth probably collided with the spacecraft of an extraterrestrial civilization.

Versions of the origin of the Tunguska phenomenon

In all respects and descriptions of eyewitnesses, the version of the meteorite body was not entirely successful. The fall occurred at an angle of 50 degrees to the Earth's surface, which is not typical for the flight of space objects of natural origin. A large meteorite, flying along such a trajectory and with space speed, in any case, should have left behind fragments. Let small, but particles of a space object in the surface layer earth's crust should have stayed.

There are other versions of the origin of the Tunguska phenomenon. The most preferred are the following:

• comet impact;
• air nuclear explosion of high power;
• the flight and death of an alien spacecraft;
• technological disaster.

Each of these hypotheses has two components. One side is oriented and based on existing facts and evidence, the other part of the version is already far-fetched, bordering on fantasy. However, for a number of reasons, each of the proposed versions has the right to exist.

Scientists admit that the Earth could collide with an icy comet. However, the flight of such large celestial bodies never goes unnoticed and is accompanied by bright astronomical phenomena. By that time, the necessary technical capabilities were available, which made it possible to see in advance the approach of such a large-scale object to the Earth.

Other scientists (mostly nuclear physicists) began to express the idea that in this case we are talking about a nuclear explosion that stirred up the Siberian taiga. In many respects and witness descriptions, the sequence of occurring phenomena largely coincides with the description of processes in a thermonuclear chain reaction.

However, as a result of data obtained from soil and wood samples taken in the area of ​​the alleged explosion, it turned out that the content of radioactive particles does not exceed the established norm. Moreover, by that time, none of the countries in the world had the technical capabilities to carry out such experiments.

Other versions are curious, pointing to the artificial origin of the event. These include the theories of ufologists and fans of tabloid sensations. Supporters of the version of the fall of the alien ship assumed that the consequences of the explosion indicate the man-made nature of the disaster. Allegedly, aliens came to us from outer space. However, an explosion of such force should have left behind parts or debris of the spacecraft. So far, nothing of the kind has been found.

No less interesting is the version about the participation in the events of Nikola Tesla. This great physicist actively studied the possibilities of electricity, trying to find a way to harness this energy for the benefit of mankind. Tesla claimed that by climbing a few kilometers up, you can transfer electrical energy to long distances using earth's atmosphere and the power of lightning.

The scientist conducted his experiments and experiments on the transmission of electrical energy over long distances precisely at the time when the Tunguska catastrophe happened. As a result of an error in calculations or under other circumstances, an explosion of plasma or ball lightning occurred in the atmosphere. Possibly the strongest electromagnetic pulse, which struck the planet after the explosion and disabled radio devices, is the consequence of the unsuccessful experience of the great scientist.

Future clue

Be that as it may, the existence of the Tunguska phenomenon is an undeniable fact. Most likely, the technical achievements of man will eventually be able to shed light on the true causes of the catastrophe that happened more than 100 years ago. We may have encountered the unseen and the unknown modern science phenomenon.

If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.

The TV channel "360" understood why not a single fragment of the Tunguska meteorite, which provoked a powerful explosion, has yet been found.

Exactly 109 years ago in Siberia there was a powerful explosion caused by the fall of the Tunguska meteorite. Even though it's been since then more than a century, there are still many blank spots in this story. "360" tells what is known about the fallen space body.

In the early morning of June 30, 1908, when the inhabitants of the northern part of Eurasia were still dreaming, a terrible natural disaster. Nothing like this was remembered by many generations of people. Something similar could be seen almost 40 years later at the end of the terrible war in history.

That morning, a monstrous explosion thundered over the deaf Siberian taiga near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River. Its capacity was subsequently estimated by scientists at 40-50 megatons. Only the famous Khrushchev's "Tsar Bomba" or "Kuzkin's Mother" could release such energy. The bombs that the Americans dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much weaker. The people who lived at that time in major cities northern Europe, it was lucky that this event did not occur over them. The consequences of the explosion in this case would be much worse.

Explosion over the taiga

The place where the Tunguska meteorite fell on June 30, 1908 in the basin of the Podkamennaya Tunguska River (now the Evenk National District of the Krasnoyarsk Territory of the RSFSR). Photo: RIA Novosti.

The fall to Earth of an unknown space alien did not go unnoticed. A few eyewitnesses, taiga hunters and cattle breeders, as well as residents of small settlements scattered in Siberia, saw the flight of a huge fireball over the taiga. Later, an explosion was also heard, the echo of which was caught far from the scene. At a distance of hundreds of kilometers from it, windows were broken in the houses, and the blast wave was recorded by observatories in various countries of the world in both hemispheres. For several more days, shimmering clouds and an unusual glow of the sky were observed in the sky from the Atlantic to Siberia. Already after the incident, people began to remember that two or three days before that they noticed strange atmospheric phenomena - glows, halo, bright twilight. But whether it was a fantasy or the truth, it’s impossible to establish for sure.

First expedition

Soviet scientist A. Zolotov (left) takes soil samples at the site of the fall of the Tunguska meteorite. Photo: RIA Novosti.

Humanity learned much later about what happened at the site of the catastrophe itself - only 19 years later, the first expedition was sent to the area where the mysterious celestial body fell. The initiator of the study of the place where the meteorite fell, which was not yet called Tunguska, was the scientist Leonid Alekseevich Kulik. He was an expert in mineralogy and celestial bodies and led a newly formed expedition to search for them. He came across a description of a mysterious phenomenon in the pre-revolutionary issue of the newspaper Siberian Life. The text explicitly indicated the place of the event, and even cited eyewitness accounts. People even mentioned "the top of a meteorite sticking out of the ground."

The hut of the first expedition of researchers led by Leonid Kulik in the area where the Tunguska meteorite fell. Photo: Vitaly Bezrukikh / RIA Novosti.

In the early 1920s, Kulik's expedition managed to collect only scattered memories of those who remembered the flaming ball in the night sky. This made it possible to approximately establish the area where the space guest fell, where the researchers went in 1927.

Consequences of the explosion

Location of the explosion of the Tunguska meteorite. Photo: RIA Novosti.

The first expedition found out that the consequences of the cataclysm were grandiose. Even according to preliminary estimates, more than 2,000 square kilometers of forest were felled in the fall area. The trees lay with their roots towards the center of the giant circle, pointing the way to the epicenter. When we managed to get to him, the first riddles appeared. In the alleged area of ​​the fall, the forest remained standing “on the vine”. The trees were dead and almost completely devoid of bark. There were no traces of a crater anywhere.

Attempts to unravel the mystery. funny hypotheses

A place in the taiga near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River, where a fiery body called the Tunguska meteorite fell 80 years ago (June 30, 1908). Here, on the taiga lake, is the laboratory of the expedition to study this catastrophe. Photo: RIA Novosti.

Kulik devoted his whole life to the search for the Tunguska meteorite. From 1927 to 1938, several expeditions were carried out to the area of ​​the epicenter. But the celestial body was never found, not a single fragment of it was found. There weren't even any dents from the impact. Hope was given by several large depressions, but a detailed study revealed that these were thermokarst pits. Even aerial photography did not help in the search.

The next expedition was scheduled for 1941, but it was not destined to take place - the war began, which pushed all other issues in the life of the country into the background. At the very beginning, Leonid Alekseevich Kulik went to the front as a volunteer in the division militia. The scientist died of typhus in the occupied territory in the city of Spas-Demensk.

Fall of the forest in the area of ​​the fall of the Tunguska meteorite. Photo: RIA Novosti.

They returned to studying the problem and searching for the crater or the meteorite itself only in 1958. Went to the taiga to Podkamennaya Tunguska scientific expedition organized by the Committee on Meteorites of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. She also did not find a single fragment of a celestial body. Over the years, the Tunguska meteorite has attracted many different scientists, researchers and even writers. So, the science fiction writer Alexander Kazantsev suggested that an interplanetary spaceship exploded over the Siberian taiga that night, unable to make a soft landing. Other hypotheses, both serious and not so serious, have been put forward. The most ridiculous of them was the assumption that existed among the researchers of the crash site, tortured by midges and mosquitoes: they believed that a huge ball of winged bloodsuckers exploded over the forest, into which a lightning bolt hit.

So what was it

Diamond-graphite intergrowths from the site of the fall of the Tunguska meteorite on the Podkamennaya Tunguska River near the village of Vanavara in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Photo: RIA Novosti.

To date, the main version is the cometary origin of the Tunguska meteorite. This explains the lack of finds of fragments of a celestial body, because comets are composed of gas and dust. Research, search and construction of new hypotheses continue. The mysterious meteorite, mentioned many times in books, comics, films, TV shows and even in music, may still be waiting for someone who finds its fragments. Awaits the final solution and the mystery of the origin and "death" of the celestial body. Mankind thanks the chance for the fact that the Tunguska meteorite (or comet?) fell in the deaf taiga. If this happened in the center of Europe, most likely, the entire modern history of the Earth would seriously change. And in honor of Leonid Alekseevich Kulik - a romantic and a discoverer - a small planet and a crater on the Moon are named.

Alexander Zhirnov

June 30, 1908 at about 7 am local time over the territory Eastern Siberia in the Podkamennaya Tunguska river basin (Evenki district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory) a unique natural event occurred.
For several seconds, a dazzling bright bolide was observed in the sky, moving from the southeast to the northwest. The flight of this unusual celestial body was accompanied by a sound reminiscent of thunder. On the path of the fireball, which was visible on the territory of Eastern Siberia within a radius of up to 800 kilometers, a powerful dust trail remained, which persisted for several hours.

After the light phenomena over the deserted taiga, there was a super powerful explosion at an altitude of 7-10 kilometers. The energy of the explosion ranged from 10 to 40 megatons of TNT, which is comparable to the energy of two thousand nuclear bombs detonated simultaneously, like the one dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
The catastrophe was witnessed by the inhabitants of the small trading post of Vanavara (now the village of Vanavara) and those few Evenk nomads who were hunting not far from the epicenter of the explosion.

In a matter of seconds, a forest was tumbled down by a blast wave within a radius of about 40 kilometers, animals were destroyed, and people were injured. At the same time, under the influence of light radiation, the taiga flared up for tens of kilometers around. A continuous fall of trees occurred on an area of ​​more than 2,000 square kilometers.
In many villages, shaking of the soil and buildings was felt, window panes were shattered, household utensils were falling from the shelves. Many people, as well as pets, were knocked down by the air wave.
The explosive air wave that circled the globe was recorded by many meteorological observatories around the world.

On the first day after the catastrophe, almost in the entire northern hemisphere - from Bordeaux to Tashkent, from the Atlantic coast to Krasnoyarsk - twilight, unusual in brightness and color, night glow of the sky, bright noctilucent clouds, daytime optical effects - halos and crowns around the sun. The radiance of the sky was so strong that many residents could not sleep. Clouds formed at an altitude of about 80 kilometers intensely reflected the sun's rays, thereby creating the effect of bright nights even where they had not been observed before. In a number of cities at night one could freely read a newspaper printed small print and in Greenwich at midnight a photograph of the seaport was taken. This phenomenon continued for several more nights.
The disaster caused hesitation magnetic field, recorded in Irkutsk and the German city of Kiel. The magnetic storm resembled in its parameters the perturbations of the Earth's magnetic field observed after high-altitude nuclear explosions.

In 1927 the pioneer Tunguska disaster Leonid Kulik suggested that in Central Siberia there was a fall of a large iron meteorite. In the same year, he surveyed the site of the event. A radial fall of the forest around the epicenter was discovered within a radius of up to 15-30 kilometers. The forest turned out to be tumbled down like a fan from the center, and in the center part of the trees remained standing on the vine, but without branches. The meteorite was never found.
The comet hypothesis was first put forward by the English meteorologist Francis Whipple in 1934, and subsequently it was developed in detail by the Soviet astrophysicist, academician Vasily Fesenkov.
In 1928-1930, the Academy of Sciences of the USSR conducted two more expeditions under the leadership of Kulik, and in 1938-1939 an aerial photograph was taken of the central part of the felled forest area.
Since 1958, the study of the epicenter region was resumed, and the Committee on Meteorites of the USSR Academy of Sciences conducted three expeditions led by the Soviet scientist Kirill Florensky. At the same time, studies were started by amateur enthusiasts, united in the so-called complex amateur expedition (CSE).
Scientists are faced with the main mystery of the Tunguska meteorite - a powerful explosion clearly occurred over the taiga, knocking down a forest over a huge area, but what caused it left no traces.

The Tunguska catastrophe is one of the most mysterious phenomena of the 20th century.

There are over a hundred versions. At the same time, after all, perhaps no meteorite fell. In addition to the version of the fall of a meteorite, there were hypotheses that the Tunguska explosion was associated with a giant ball lightning, a black hole that entered the Earth, an explosion of natural gas from a tectonic crack, a collision of the Earth with a mass of antimatter, a laser signal alien civilization or the failed experiment of the physicist Nikola Tesla. One of the most exotic hypotheses is the crash of an alien spacecraft.
According to many scientists, the Tunguska body was still a comet that completely evaporated at high altitude.

In 2013, Ukrainian and American geologists of grains found by Soviet scientists near the site of the fall of the Tunguska meteorite came to the conclusion that they belonged to a meteorite from the class of carbonaceous chondrites, and not to a comet.

Meanwhile, Phil Blend, an associate at the Australian University of Curtin, made two arguments calling into question the links between the samples and the Tunguska explosion. According to the scientist, they have a suspiciously low concentration of iridium, which is not typical for meteorites, and the peat where the samples were found is not dated to 1908, that is, the stones found could have hit Earth earlier or later than the famous explosion.

On October 9, 1995, in the southeast of Evenkia, near the village of Vanavara, the Tungussky State Nature Reserve was established by decree of the Russian government.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources