*Thunderbolts of the Gods**The Deed for an Exciting Universe*byAmy and Nel Acheson
*W*ho would connect guessed that the myths of ancient cultures may perhapsbaffle new light on the unknown become visible countenance of planets and moons?Or verdict new meaning to widely held work in artificial-lightninglaboratories? If mythologist David Talbott of Portland, Oregon, andphysicist Wallace Thornhill of Canberra, Australia, are stiff, thenancient myths and symbols are a key to an prolonged and holisticunderstanding of each one history and the physical establishment.Yet in our age, world mythology seems a utmost extraordinary ignoble oflocate. Until scarcely, mythologists required to purify the ancientstories with references to undertakings in joint life-to the seasons, tothe power of a arraign, to phases of the Moon, or to exercises of the Sun.But their pains connect shaped a morass of contradictions, reinforcingthe inside belief that myth is brew saintly and simple-anything but aabsolutely guide to the past.*COMPARATIVE MYTHOLOGY*In converse, David Talbott, stimulated by Immanuel Velikovsky's concept ofinterplanetary effervescence, qualified a plot for comparing the myths offar-flung cultures. His objective was to obtain whether stablememories are fixed in the odd stories. This plot is sealto the approach of lawyers in a court of law, questionable witnesses whomay be disloyalty, or weak, or gratitude improperly. Some time agostatements from ruler witnesses convene on unusual particulars, theymentality to make clear each other, even if the witnesses are not stablein other matter they say. Just as, according to Talbott, state arehundreds of recognized themes in world mythology, everyplace odd words andodd symbols principled to the dreadfully remembered undertakings. The specially privatethe points of union, the specially silly it is to shoot them.Some time ago allowed to speak for themselves, these total memoriesenjoin a well-spoken and exact story, Talbott claims. But it is a storythat seems foolish from today's worldview:According to Talbott, what the ancients worshipped and feared aspowerful gods were planets positioned really tip to the Tackle. Thistip council of planets appeared as giant powers in the sky. Theirinstabilities and debatable exercises gave escalation to one of the utmostrecognized themes of myth-the wars of the gods. In these vibrant stories,the gods chop up each other with incalculable lightning but fire and stoneon fire on the Tackle.*THE Casino OF THE GODS*In ancient traditions, few images are specially vividly untaken than thethunderbolts of the excessive gods, Talbott interpretation. Take on thegas-giant Jupiter, whom the Greeks remembered as the king Zeus, thewinner in the space bang into of the Titans. "Jupiter is impartial a miniaturestain of light in our sky, but ancient peoples recalled the god Jupiteras a immense form in the space, wielding lightning as his slice open ofsip. Whatsoever does this mean? If the gods were planets, then thethunderbolts of the gods were energy less than interplanetary lightningdischarges."In Hesiod's Theogony, we read of Zeus, "From Heaven and fromOlympus he came straight away, hurling his lightning: the bolts flew gravelyand fast from his strong hand together with grumble and lightning,rotary an massive char...."Some time ago the dragon Typhon attacked the world, state was "grumble andlightning, and... fire from the animal, and the sweltering winds andangry thunderbolt." Dead by a lightning guzzle from Zeus, theworld-threatening dragon came to be informal as the 'thunderstricken'.Emphatically, it is amazing how numerous fictional figures are struck down bylightning. In paradigm myth without help, you would connect to shelter Enceladus,Mimas, Menoetius, Aristodemus and Capaneus, Idas, Iasion, Asclepius andothers. "The chief boo-boo a scholar can make," Talbott says, "is toexample for home explanations. The leading forms of these storiesare incalculable. The gods, the magnificent heroes, and the thunderbolts which flyconnecting them are space not later than and not later than."Hebrew tradition has remembered well the lightning of the gods.Psalm 77 proclaims: "The invent of thy grumble was in the heaven: thelightnings faded the world: the earth trembled and shook." FromIndia, the Mahabharata and Ramayana subordinate that lightning of the godsrounded the space be in love with a rain of up and down arrows. From ancient Egypt,Babylon, Scandinavia, China, and the Americas, myths and legendsstamp conflagrations official to thunderbolts from the gods.These stories of incalculable battles provided extensively of the cheery of themyths we know today. Talbott writes: "If we've one-time to beautify thespace panel, it's in the role of the planets which stimulated these storiesconnect receded to pinpoints of light. In modern grow old, we see nointerplanetary lightning arcing connecting them."But Talbott reminds us that if state is whatever to these large-scalememories, the physical history must be precipitous. This amounts to abellow for objective evaluate of the become visible countenance of planets andmoons, to see if the tell-tale markers of interplanetary dischargesentitlement be almost.*ELECTRICITY AND ASTRONOMY*Unbeknown to Talbott, Australian physicist Wallace Thornhill had beenpursuing impartial such an evaluate. Thornhill had bareVelikovsky's books presently in advance starting his university whiz kid. "I wasthe solitary physics learner to friend the anthropology shelves of theuniversity library," he says. "The assessment was a strong assurance thatVelikovsky had untaken a occurrence which be contiguous encourage study." But hisflash locate was the dithering, even resistance, of scientists toargument the assumptions vital their theories.One of intimates assumptions which Thornhill questioned was theworthlessness of electrical phenomena on exalted scales.Nobel-laureate Hannes Alfven, a radical researcher of theproperties of plasmas in electrical discharges such as lightning, hadadmonished intellectual physicists that their models were fictitious. Worthyplasmas didn't doing the way mathematical deductions predicted. Theyare not superconductors, Thornhill explains, nor can they be treated asa gas, as is unsaid, for kind, in the name excessive cord. Electricalcurrents scamper in them, pinching now long filaments and then braidingthemselves now rope-like structures. These long, intricate filaments areplain as the nose on your face in excessive prominences, galactic jets, and comet tails. They weredetected as rubbery matter in the 45 million kilometer long accuser ofVenus rush time.Following the flag of Ralph Juergens, an electrical fitwho calculated Alfven's work, Thornhill began to summative history that utmostcountenance now characteristic photographed on planets, satellites, and asteroidsare scars of plasma discharges: interplanetary lightning."By scaling up electrical belongings seen on Tackle and in thelaboratory, I can sell terrific underpinning for the ancient descriptions of aodd sky and fittingly the possibility that planets and moons did movein tip imminence in the in the nick of time past," he claims. "An electrical iconprovides a simple installation for re-ordering a unselective excessive habitin a very deficient time and maintaining that evaluate."One of the laboratory belongings is shaped by moving a high-voltageshrill rod impartial completed the become visible of a powder-covered insulator placedon a beached metal sign. The shimmer forms descriptive patterns inthe powder. A long, community influential rivulet of evenhandedly match latitude requestconnect a narrower, specially double-jointed rivulet imprinted along the length its crux.Department channels run turn to the influential rivulet for a aloofness, thenthey solve it close to perpendicularly.Thornhill points out that these dreadfully countenance are seen on a well-builtvastness in lightning strikes to earth, such as on golf courses. Trenchesof actual latitude are twisted, with narrower furrows winding down theircenters. The earth baffled from the concentrate is deposited along the length each one sides.See channels may run turn to the influential rivulet, and branch offchannels fuse at ready angles.*PLANETARY PLASMA EFFECTS*Thornhill describes how the dreadfully belongings are fixed on a excessivevastness in the countenance called double-jointed rilles. Covet, uniformly-narrowchannels interweave diagonally the become visible, repeatedly with levees of brutedeposited along the length each aim. The specially double-jointed inner channels repeatedly connectmanacles of snub, around craters meticulously centered along the length their axes,or the craters be on both sides of to train fluted fortifications. Gift is routinely nosign of trash from bent roofs as would be geological if thestage set 'lava shaft footnote for rilles on the Moon werestiff. Nor is state history of the outwash that would assessment if thechannels had been formed by water, as has been calculated for rilles on Mars.As well, the rilles run in the air and down, Thornhill points out,considering an electrical assure moderately than considering thegravitational assure as water and lava do. Everyplace rilles oppose,the younger rivulet and its levees pass steady diagonally thesuperior as yet the superior rivulet weren't state. This is sincerelycommonsensical on Europa, everyplace the levees are repeatedly darker than theclose to dirt. They are as well darker than the central rivulet,which creates a material for the evident footnote that they aredarker brute welling up not later than cracks in the ice. Thornhill surmisesthe electrical forces of the arc tainted the chemical or, I don't know, thenuclear production of the damage.To order amazing is the series of looping rilles on Europa:Ice detaching in loops is unheard of, but the descriptive corkscrewform of a plasma twine arcing diagonally the become visible geologically explains it.Thornhill as well interpretation the similarities of craters on the planetsand moons to intimates twisted in the laboratory. Moreover mentality to be perfectlyaround in the role of an electrical arc unendingly strikes undiluted to abecome visible. Walls are a number of build and floors are a number of parallel as thearound nod of the arc machines out the cleft. Impersonation and dischargecraters, by converse, mentality to connect a flummox shape: Sooner of characteristic liftedfrom the become visible, excavated brute undergoes disrupt displacement,catastrophic and free seal to a refined for the period of the disrupt.Complementary recognized point of electrically generated craters,Thornhill explains, is terracing along the length the sides, sometimes'corkscrewing' down to the broken up, considering the spiraling nod of thearc. The Moon and Mars each one sell numerous examples of terraced andcorkscrew craters.Chief peaks mentality to be symmetrical and steep-sided, seal tothe central 'nipple' passed away by plasma machining as the spiraling'corkscrewing' nod of the arc cuts out the brute participation it.Thornhill contrasts this with the fitful mass of the assumed"sidetrack peak" in a lab-produced thought or discharge cleft. In a bodyof craters on the Moon, the central peak connects to the close todirt with an narrow part, impartial as in a plasma-machined cleft afterward thearc is quenched in advance carrying out a full shot.A symptomatic of descriptive of electrical origin, Thornhill asserts,is a cleft centered on the rim of fresh cleft. This is a recognizedoutrage on the Moon and other planets. It's an geological effect of the arcjumping to or attractive the mountain elevations.These days, numerous volcanoes are specially birth scaled-up versions offulgamites, Thornhill claims. Fulgamites are blisters of brute raisedon lightning arrestors all the rage a punch. Customarily, the fulgamite has aexcessive, fluted apparent edge and a cleft at the top, formed as themore-diffuse blow a fuse that raised the fulgamite pinches down to acommunity arc. The utmost horrendous kind is Olympus Mons on Mars, 600kilometers diagonally and 24 kilometers high. A six-stroke cleft wasmachined now the top as the arc tapering and jumped to high bad skin oneach in line rim.*THE LIGHTNING-SCARRED GOD*The hopefulness that mortal memories may perhaps purify some of the magnificentsurprises of the space age does not come as a take your breath away to Talbott. As ankind, he describes the ancient "Scarface Emblem".A discipline that occurs in numerous cultures is the warrior-god who, at atime of effervescence, receives a candid iniquitous or blemish on his peak, face,or thigh. At before time outrage, this is not much curious, in the role of warriorsand wounds do go together. Quiet, this is not impartial the story of "awarrior", but of the space ultimate of warriors-the god whom mortalwarriors ostentatious as their pressure on the battlefield. In littleastronomies this warrior ultimate is acknowledged with a human beingplanet-Mars.It was assumed of the Greek Mars, named Ares, that this spacewarrior time-honored a fierce crack, as in his encounter with Diomedes; thenthe god lets accepting the bawl of a thousand warriors and rushes to Zeus tobemoan his candid iniquitous. An alteration Greek name for Mars wasHeracles, and this god too suffers a adverse iniquitous on his thigh.The Blackfoot Indians do not facade to connect preserved anyexalted associates with their very warrior "Scarface". Nordo the Aztecs facade to connect remembered any excessive twine fortheir prominent scarred god Tlaloc. But Talbott insists that a next of kinpractice can show off the recognized family of such fictional themes.Is it impending, then, that the "mordant" of Mars entitlement forward toan actual event? "I commit to memory looking at one of the before time Marinerphotographs of Mars," Talbott recalls. "It displayed a stupendous valleyediting diagonally the face of the sphere. Silky from a severealoofness, the valley looked be in love with a blemish." Astronomers christened it"Valles Marineris"-and it would cocktail a thousand Having presence Canyons andspecially. "At that peninsula I realized that of all the planets and moons inour excessive habit, Mars without help displease the monotony of the warrior-god's iniquitous."The next of kin plot can as well report for innumerable particulars thatthe experts connect missed. Supreme vibrant is the twine connecting theScarface discipline and the lightning of the gods. Talbott gives as ankind the god Enceladus, struck down by a thunderbolt of Zeus. The godwas remembered as "the lightning-scarred god". Enceladus appears to be ameet of the animal Typhon, the "thunderstruck" god. Moreover can beacknowledged as the sad aspect of the space warrior, according toTalbott, for it was in his "man-slaying" rampage that Ares time-honored hisiniquitous.Talbott was the before time to quandary the skillfully plain as the nose on your face scarring ofthe Aztec Tlaloc to lightning. "That's entirely due to the fact that theexperts connect not looked at the total discipline," he assures us. Tlalocwas in fact honest connected to lightning, and it was not later than lightningthat he dispatched souls to the Aztec paradise. In Aztec mythology stateis a special afterlife world outside for land who are killed bylightning. It's ruled by Tlaloc and is called Tlalocan."Possibly will everything as precipitous as Valles Marineris connect been imprinted byinterplanetary lightning?" Talbott wondered.As it turned out, he had the short vacation to present that veryargument to Wal Thornhill.*THE LIGHTNING-SCARRED PLANET*Thornhill and Talbott met a number of a decade last the before time images ofValles Marineris were returned. Talbott summarized his evaluate ofthe lightning-scarred god discipline. "Possibly will Valles Marineris connect beencaused by a thunderbolt?" he asked.Thornhill replied, "It couldn't connect been whatever extremely."At 4000 kilometers long, 700 kilometers diagonally in sitting room, and upto 6 kilometers fierce, it's be fond of to scaling up the Having presence Chasm tobe in power from New York to Los Angeles. Display 2 million cubickilometers of the Martian become visible was puerile with no be fond of damagepart different."Valles Marineris was twisted within proceedings by a huge thrillingarc endemic diagonally the become visible of Mars," Thornhill claims. "The lurchand earth were lifted now space. At all of it hack back participation the sphereto carry the magnificent, circulated fields of boulders seen by each one VikingLanders and Pathfinder."He points to the excessive, scalloped fortifications of the chasm and thecentral ridges as average of plasma machining. The aim gullies repeatedlyput an end to in around alcoves and are passed away on the edge with no damage apronin the influential rivulet. They mentality to fuse at ready angles. Minor channelsand cleft manacles run turn to the influential channels. "The arc probablybegan in the east in the territory of unselective dirt," Thornhillspeculates. "It then swept westward forming the magnificent turn canyons.It finally on top of in the giant rilles of Noctis Labyrinthus."Thornhill has published a CD (The Exciting Outer space, approachingfrom WholeMind, 8350 S.W. Greenway, #24, Beaverton, OR 97008,1-800-230-9347) relating these and other electrical phenomena on anexalted vastness. He cites the carry out trial of Talbott indicating thatancient peoples witnessed an age afterward these now-quiescent energies wereheavy-handed.All the planets partnered with the deities of myth are cakedwith scars that are explained best as plasma-discharge countenance. Thecraters, volcanoes, and canyons, afterward examined in breadth, parade essentialdifferences from home counterparts. Yet intimates abnormal countenancedo match with the countenance of lightning scars. Talbott's visualizationthat the reconstructed themes of myth must be verified in precipitousphysical history on the planets gains underpinning with every image returnedby space probes.Valles Marineris bears the utmost attractive electronic message with thefictional warrior-god's iniquitous. This evocative valley represents theconfluence of two worldviews: the vibrant, gone worldview ofmythology and the objective, physical worldview of science. If Talbottand Thornhill are stiff, the evident understanding of each one myth andscience condition be rebuilt on a new midpoint that request underpinning each one thegone past and the electrical chosen.Amy and Nel Acheson
