Tunguska Event was caused by Encke-Baklund comet - astronomer

MOSCOW, June 28 (Itar-Tass) -- The Tunguska Event of 1908 was most
probably caused by the Encke-Baklund Comet, Russian astronomer Vitaly
Romeiko, a participant in twenty two expeditions to the area of the
disaster, author of many articles and books on the subject, told Itar-Tass on the sidelines of a conference timed for the 100th anniversary of Tunguska phenomenon.

The event triggered no end of theories and explanations, he recalled.
"I have counted 67 of them made public so far. The range of ideas is
'fantastically' wide - from the firm belief of the indigenous population -
the Evenki people - they had witnessed the advent of the formidable God of
Thunder, who had come down to punish them for their wrongdoings, to the
relatively new version the event was triggered by Nikola Tesla's
experiment," the scientist said.

The way he sees it, the scientific community itself is to blame to a
certain extent why theories are so many and varied.
"The scientists failed to present a plausible explanation in due time.

Then the enthusiasts and volunteers decided to extend a helping hand. As
everybody knows, they are extremely imaginative characters. These days the
main dispute is unfolding between the advocates of the meteor theory and
the comet theory, and this one will be extremely hard to resolve," the
Russian astronomer said. "As follows from the latest information we have
about the comets' nuclei, they do contain a certain amount of meteoric
substance. With reliance on this and other astronomical parameters
identified over the past few years I can say with certainty that the
phenomenon was caused by a comet."

Moreover, its name is known, too - the Encke-Baklund Comet.
And Russia's veteran cosmonaut Georgy Grechko, who attended the
conference, too, recalled how impressed he was at the end of the 1940s,
when he, still a boy, read a short story by Russia's excellent science
fiction writer Alexander Kazantsev, who maintained the Tunguska Event was
not the fall of a huge meteorite, but the crash of a spaceship.

"Back in my younger days, when I was still dreaming of space flights,
I told myself I will go the site of the crash some day and find the
spaceship's fragments," Grechko recalls.

"Later, in 1960 several colleagues of mine and myself and also some
enthusiasts in Tomsk somehow arranged for an expedition. Chief spacecraft
designer Sergei Korolev was very supportive. We even had our tickets to
Krasnoyarsk paid for. When the 90th anniversary of the Tunguska Event was
marked, I traveled there once again. I am still curious what really
happened. Now, that I have listened to all the reports at the conference,
I feel almost persuaded it was a comet after all, not a spaceship. Anyhow,
this is good news, too. At least one cannot but feel happy no astronauts
died in the disaster," Grechko said, flashing a broad smile.

The organizing committee said the conference brought together about
280 delegates, including 30 foreign guests from Italy, the United States,
Germany, Mexico, Estonia, Ireland and Britain.