[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: (meteorobs) Constantinople, A.D. 472



i am looking for further info on christine's story, some supporting evidence, and right away i found this:
 
472                              Mount Vesuvius, in the Bay of Naples, erupted with documented ash fall as far as Constantinople.  This was considered the most violent and fatal Vesuvian eruption during the last nineteen centuries.
 
still looking
dale
miami fl
----- Original Message -----
From: KCStarguy@aol.com
To: meteorobs@atmob.org
Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2004 9:12 AM
Subject: (meteorobs) Constantinople, A.D. 472

I am still amazed about this impact and event. With a help from a friend I
found the following.
Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com),
Olathe, KS. USA
FGU astronomy consultant, Harvard U.-Member, ASKC (Astronomical Society of
Kansas City), Comet Observers Award Moderator, Astronomical League.
(http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/obsclub.html)
(http://members.aol.com/kcstarguy/blacksun/cometaward.htm); State of Kansas- Solar System Ambassador - JPL (Jet
Propulsion Lab);
 7 total solar eclipses and counting
**
In a message dated 7/1/02 9:28:29 PM, CHRISTINECissy writes:

<< From: Rain of Iron and Ice, Dr. John S. Lewis, Addison-Wesley Publishing, 
  December 1995, Page 1


Reconstruction of events in Constantinople, A.D. 472

It was a warm, clear afternoon in the capital.  The bustle of metropolitan
commerce and tourism filled the streets. Small sailing vessels dotted the
sheltered waters within sight of the government buildings, riding on a soft
southerly breeze.  The Sun sparkled on the gentle swells and wakes, lending a luminous
glow to the poppies and tulips nodding in the parks along the water's edge.
All was in order.

But suddenly the sky brightened as if with a second, more brilliant Sun.  A
second
set of shadows appeared; at first long and faint, they shortened and
sharpened rapidly. A strange hissing, humming sound seemed to come from everywhere at
once.  Thousands craned their necks and looked upward, searching the sky for
the new Sun. Above them a tremendous white fireball blossomed, like the
unfolding of a vast paper flower, but now blindingly bright.  For several seconds the
fierce fireball dominated the sky, shaming the Sun.  The sky burned
white-hot, then slowly faded through yellow and orange to a glowering copper-red.  The
awful hissing ceased.

The onlookers, blinded by the flash, burned by its searing heat, covered
their eyes and cringed in terror.  Occupants of offices and apartments rushed to
their windows, searching the sky for the source of the brilliant flare that had
lit their rooms.  A great blanket of turbulent, coppery cloud filled half the
sky overhead.  For a dozen heartbeats the city was awestruck, numbed and
silent.  Then, without warning, a tremendous blast smote the city, knocking
pedestrians to the ground.  Shuttered doors and windows blew out; fences, walls and
roofs groaned and cracked.  A shock wave raced across the city and its
waterways, knocking sailboats flat in the water.

A hot sulfurous wind like an open door into hell, the breath of a cosmic
ironmaker's furnace, pressed downward from the sky, filled with endless
reverberation of invisible landslides.  Then the hot breath slowed and paused; the
normal breeze resumed with renewed vigor, and cool air blew across the city from
the South. The sky overhead now faded to dark gray, then to a portentous black.
A turbulent black cloud like a rumpled sheet seemed to descend from heaven. 
Fine black dust began to fall, slowly, gently, suspended and swirled by the
breeze.  For an hour or more the black dust fell, until, dissipated and dispersed
by the breeze, the cloud faded from view.

Many thought it was the end of the world....

This may not be the most scientifically detailed account that I have ever
heard of - but it certainly is the most ethereal and poetic....

Happy 4th!

Best Wishes!
Christine >>

 >>

The archive and Web site for our list is at http://www.meteorobs.org
To stop getting all email from the 'meteorobs' lists, use our Webform:
http://www.meteorobs.org/subscribe.html

References: