Star, Comet, Fireball Trivia Quiz

Answer: Russia

The Tunguska Event occurred in central Siberia near the Tunguska River. This is a desolate area with subarctic weather. Much of it is difficult to access and can be reached by outsiders only for a few months a year during the summer. This inaccessibility hindered study by Russian scientists as well as others.

Answer: There was no crater

One of the mysteries of this event was that no crater has ever been found. The first expedition to the area did not take place for almost two decades because of political unrest in Russia. One plausible explanation for the lack of a crater is that the object exploded before hitting the ground, possibly as high as 5 miles above the surface.

Answer: Leonid Kulik

Leonid Kulik (1883-1942) was a noted Russian mineralogist who specialized in the study of meteorites. He studied the area intensively and interviewed all the local witnesses. He was honored for his work in 1978 when a newly discovered asteroid was named 2749 Kulik.

There is also a crater on the moon named after him. He died of typhus in a German prisoner of war camp at the age of 59. The other options are 20th and 21st century presidents of Russia.

Answer: A small area of upright, blackened trees with no limbs

For over 12 miles from the epicenter of the explosion every tree in the pine forest had been leveled and/or all the trees were uprooted. They all lay parallel to one another with their tops pointing away from the blast. Mysteriously, in the center of the area, stood upright trees.

They were completely blackened and their limbs burned off, but unlike the miles of forest around them they were still erect.

Answer: Debris clouds hung over Europe for over 3 days

Debris from the explosion hung over Europe for 3-4 days which reflected artificial lights and made it very bright at night. It is also estimated that it caused an earthquake that would have measured about 5.0 on the Richter scale, which had yet to be invented.

It was also reported to have caused clouds that changed color and caused local rivers to have large waves. It was also believed to have caused genetic mutations in the plant life and the local human population that were similar to those found near a nuclear explosion.

Answer: Nikola Tesla

Tesla's experiments on a "death ray" can be traced all the way back to the late 19th century. In 1918 Tesla attempted to send laser pulses to the moon. He claimed for years to have invented a "death ray" that would put an end to war.

Answer: The crash of an alien space ship

While all of these have been suggested as possibilities, Kazantsev was of the belief that the incident was caused by an alien space ship accidentally crashing into earth. The Soviet government made sure to distance themselves from that opinion.

Answer: False

Modern science has estimated the blast at the Tunguska Event to have been approximately 1,000 times larger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It had the power to completely obliterate a large metropolitan area. Had it hit in a populated area it is probable that it would have gone down in history as one of the largest catastrophes to have occurred in written human history.

Answer: False

There is anecdotal evidence that maybe two people died after being blown into the air by the blast. However, they would have been many miles away from the blast, and because no real research was done for 19 years the connection between these two deaths would be hard to prove. No human remains have ever been found at the blast site, even though the bones of forest animals have been found on the periphery.

Answer: None. There are many suggestions but there is no agreement

Scientists still debate what happened in Siberia that day. The long delay before investigation, the inaccessibility of the location and the lack of physical evidence have all hampered modern investigation. It does seem destined that, whatever fell from space that day, will remain a mystery with the prime suspects being a comet, a meteor, or an asteroid.