Almost 13,000 years ago, a massive fragment of a comet exploded over Louisiana, turning stone into glass and potentially offering evidence for one of history’s most controversial theories.
New research supports ideas popularized by author Graham Hancock, who shared a stage with comet scientist Dr Allan West to discuss the findings.
Hancock’s bestselling books argue for the existence of a lost, advanced civilization wiped out by a cosmic cataclysm around 12,800 years ago.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Hancock said his work is often misunderstood or dismissed by critics, but recent comet impact discoveries lend weight to the mystery he explores.
Dr West, one of the scientists behind the Louisiana find, warns that such explosions with the destructive power of nuclear weapons may be more common than previously thought.
‘I am exploring a mystery, and that mystery is a very strong feeling that the archaeological project is not giving us the whole story about the past, not because of any conspiracy, but because archaeology mainly focuses on physical artifacts,’ Hancock explained.
‘This approach tends to overlook important evidence found in religious texts and ancient myths, like the Egyptian Book of the Dead and the global flood myth.’
‘It’s clear to me that something is missing, that during the Ice Age, there was a culture with advanced astronomy, knowledge of the Earth’s dimensions, and even the problem of longitude solved.’
The study identified what appeared to be a 12,800-year-old depression in Louisiana caused by a cosmic airburst, an explosion in the atmosphere by a space object.
The study found evidence of what appears to be a 12,800-year-old depression made by a cosmic airburst – an explosion caused by a material from space exploding in the atmosphere
The ‘evidence’ was uncovered in Louisiana, which experts say could prove America was once home to an advanced civilization
Radiometric dating and electron microscopy date the event to the Younger Dryas Boundary, a period marked by abrupt cooling and mass extinctions.
Researchers suggested that the 984-foot-long lake and crater-like depression in Perkins could be the first airburst crater identified from this era.
Hancock believes the Earth was bombarded by fragments of a giant comet, part of the Taurid meteor stream, thousands of years ago.
‘Comets can get caught in the sun’s gravity and enter orbit. According to research by Nature and others, the Taurid stream included a massive comet, possibly over 100 kilometers wide, which crossed Earth’s path about 20,000 years ago,’ Hancock said.
He argues the impacts were not single hits but ‘like a shotgun blast,’ multiple airbursts from objects ranging in size from the Great Pyramid to entire cities, affecting locations worldwide, including the US, Belgium, Syria, Chile and Antarctica.
Hancock sees the recent discovery as one among dozens of such global events, possibly including an impact crater as well as airbursts.
Rising to fame with Fingerprints of the Gods in 1995, Hancock has faced ongoing rejection from mainstream archaeology.
‘That book gathered evidence from mythology, traditions, and design, leading to my conclusion that a global cataclysm wiped out part of human history around 12,500 years ago,’ Hancock said.
Graham Hancock’s books explore the idea that there might have been a ‘lost’ civilization on Earth (Picture Netflix)
Comets in varying sizes – from ‘Great Pyramid-sized to city-sized’ hit all across Earth, Hancock believes
‘The Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis, proposed scientifically in 2006, fits this timeline perfectly. Evidence continues to build, though it remains controversial.’
Dr West, from the Comet Research Group, stressed the broader implications of their findings.
‘The accepted view is that extraterrestrial impact events are extremely rare, especially large ones like the dinosaur extinction event,’ he said.
‘But smaller, dangerous airbursts like Tunguska in 1908 and Chelyabinsk in 2013 happen more often than believed.’
He said evidence points to a major encounter with a giant comet’s tail 12,800 years ago, causing widespread devastation without the comet itself striking Earth.
‘This event was enormous, equivalent to thousands or even tens of thousands of nuclear bombs exploding simultaneously,’ West explained.
Radiometric dating and electron microscopy date the event to the Younger Dryas Boundary, a period marked by abrupt cooling and mass extinctions. Researchers suggested that the 984-foot-long lake and crater-like depression in Perkins could be the first airburst crater identified from this era
The aftermath pushed many megafauna species, including mammoths and saber-toothed cats, into extinction.
West warns that if a similar event happened today, it could be catastrophic.
‘Back then, fewer than a million people lived on Earth. Today’s billions would suffer immensely, millions could die, crops would fail, satellites and electrical grids would be destroyed.’
The Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis remains controversial because the sharp climate downturn it explains has no other widely accepted cause.
West believes the comet impact darkened skies with dust and soot for months, plunging the world back into ice age conditions.
West and Hancock share the experience of facing intense criticism for their unconventional ideas.
‘Graham invited me to speak because our work challenges the prevailing scientific paradigm,’ West said. ‘We’ve had papers blocked, delayed, and even targeted for retraction by those opposed to our research.’
Hancock is realistic about the acceptance of their theories.
‘I’m not optimistic for a sudden paradigm shift. Overturning established views is a slow, often hostile process,’ he said.
‘But with enough evidence, the truth will eventually emerge, just not tomorrow or anytime soon.’
