The Tunguska phenomenon may have a geological origin, proves the Doctor of Geographical Sciences Aleksey Reteyum. Kirill Zhurenkov talked to him.
110 years have passed since the fall of the Tunguska meteorite, but disputes about the nature of the phenomenon continue to excite the scientific community today. Just before the anniversary, another unexpected version was in the spotlight of experts.
On the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the meteorite fall (June 30, 1908), which is often called a more general term - a phenomenon, an international conference was held in Krasnoyarsk dedicated to the problems and hypotheses in its study. One of the reports made at the conference immediately thundered: its author, Professor of the Department of Physical Geography and Landscape Science of the Faculty of Geography of the Moscow State University named after M. V. Lomonosov, Doctor of Geographical Sciences Alexei Reteyum is sure: the Tunguska phenomenon has terrestrial nature! Ogonyok publishes excerpts from the sensational report with the permission of the author, who also answered questions from the editorial board.
How did it happen that for so many years science has not come close to solving the Tunguska phenomenon?
- There is an explanation: when the research was just beginning, it was believed that it was a meteorite, of the Sikhote-Alin type, and that the main task was to find its traces. This was the basic setting.
Few people imagine the enormous effort it took to find the shards. Hands fingered tons of soil, dug in incredibly difficult conditions, and all in vain. It is now recognized that this setting was wrong. But she also influenced the wording of questions to eyewitnesses! On expeditions to Siberian villages, people were asked questions about what happened "after" what happened - about the body itself, its color, shape. And not a single question was asked about what was "before." This is the problem: all the witnesses of the extraordinary event died long ago, and we will never know firsthand what it was “before”. And there were, apparently, interesting and strange phenomena. Some eyewitnesses spoke about them: it turns out that the event had harbingers! These phenomena had different shapes, different colors, different trajectories, looked differently,flew at different speeds - besides, they were observed in various regions of Siberia.
Scientists have been trying to get into the mystery of the Tunguska phenomenon for many years: in this photograph, the members of the Soviet expedition are examining the trees preserved from the time of the explosion. Photo: Vladimir Medvedev / TASS photo chronicle.
You said that the search for a meteorite was recognized as the wrong approach. And by whom exactly is this recognized?
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- The organizers of various scientific meetings - they were timed to coincide with the 90th anniversary, the 100th anniversary of the Tunguska event. This is recognized today by many famous scientists.
I would like to clarify directly about your research. How long have you been dealing with this problem?
- At least twenty years. For a long time I was just interested in this, as well as others. Why am I interested in the Tunguska phenomenon as a scientist? It's very simple: nature is best manifested in such grandiose phenomena, and when we study them, it is easier for us to find something else. So, there is nothing more grandiose than the Tunguska event - except perhaps large volcanic eruptions or earthquakes.
A library can be made up of books written about the Tunguska event. What's the point in writing another one? Therefore, it was important for me to find a concept that explains it. And I had this concept about ten years ago. This was the idea of an expanding and pulsating Earth. Let me explain: the Tunguska event fell on a unique epoch for many centuries (rather short, but still an epoch), when a sharp decrease in the Earth's rotation rate was replaced by its growth, and the size of the planet itself changed - slowing down, it obviously expanded. But then, just from the moment of the Tunguska event, the Earth began to accelerate and shrink. This compression is evidenced, for example, by the fact that the day before, in 1907, there was a long-term record maximum in the number of volcanic eruptions. This has not happened either before or after - for many decades!
In the context of the Tunguska event, you are also talking about the influence of celestial bodies on the Earth. This concept is controversial in the scientific community. How do you respond to critics?
- I can answer that this can be seen in experiments, the facts indicate that there is such an influence. However, facts are often overlooked in the scientific community. By the way, the Tunguska event is also interesting as an example of the fantastic blindness of people: those who believe that it is a meteorite or that these are aliens, they absolutely do not want to notice and take into account other facts. There is a known case when one professor, who was an adherent of the space theory of the Tunguska phenomenon, challenged a colleague who adhered to a different point of view interpreting the phenomenon to a duel. Meanwhile, it is obvious that adherence to this or that version is not proof of its correctness. And the example of the Tunguska event convinces of this: you can bring mountains of facts, but those who wish to believe will believe what they are inclined to - someone in the experiments of Nikola Tesla, someone in UFOs.
Interviewed by Kirill Zhurenkov