Asteroid Impact
Scientific Lunacy or
(Page 4)
Bible Prophecy?
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PublicityThe threat of an asteroid impact has attracted considerable media attention including the recent movies "Deep Impact" and Armageddon." In February 1997, NBC aired a dramatic mini-series about an asteroid impact. According to the Nielsen ratings, this mini-series received the highest ratings of any mini-series ever presented on TV. More than 60 million Americans watched the series. During the same month, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) aired two documentaries featuring prominent scientists around the world validating the inevitability that Earth will be impacted again. The words, "It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when . . . ." were repeated several times. The conclusion of the late pioneer Dr. Eugene Shoemaker of the U.S. Geological Survey, and many others, is that Earth will be impacted again. Their claims are based on the law of nature that random events take place in predictable intervals of time. Scientists reason that civilization-threatening impacts happen every 100,000 years or so, and they conclude that we are near the interval or point in time when such an impact is due to happen again.
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Hale-BoppThe March/April 1997 nightly appearance of the Hale-Bopp comet also raised visual awareness that there are objects traveling through space that come close to Earth. Even though the comet posed no threat to Earth, there were some sensationalists who speculated that Hale-Bopp could change course and impact Earth. Then, there was talk about a UFO hiding behind the comet, "a companion object" that contained extraterrestrials who were coming to visit Earth. Unfortunately, the 39 members of the cult group called "Heaven’s Gate" took the misleading information seriously and committed suicide so they could join the UFO that was allegedly "hiding" behind Hale-Bopp. No doubt, insanity continues to plague the human race. But, the threat of an asteroid impact is not lunacy or dementia – according to the best that science has to offer, it is a matter of timing.
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Helpless or Helpful?From the point of survival, the threat of an asteroid impact is one of those things that man is almost powerless to do anything about. If an asteroid is headed for Earth, who can stop it? Some scientists think an asteroid can be stopped and are urging developed nations to join resources and technology to prepare an international defense against this cosmic threat. The latest "rescue" plans include schemes to nudge or push asteroids away from orbits that would impact Earth. But such a plan presumes there will be enough warning time and the availability of the right equipment to push a huge mountain out of the way while it is traveling toward Earth at 40,000+ miles-per-hour. Yet, other scientists are convinced that literally nothing can be done. They argue that to blow an oncoming asteroid apart could make matters much worse, causing fragments to impact Earth in numerous places resulting is a much wider area of devastation. So, scientists still wrestle with what option is the best plan of defense.
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One Good ReasonShould we really worry about an asteroid impact? Most people, after considering the issue for a minute, shrug and say, "What will be, will be." After all, what can one person do about a cosmic threat. Actually, nothing. For this reason, the threat of an asteroid impact is often treated with the same seriousness as a science fiction thriller. But, and this is an emphatic but, there is one very good reason to thoughtfully consider the possibility of an impact. The Bible, specifically the book of Revelation, predicts the following: Meteoric showers of burning hail, two asteroid impacts and a period of great darkness. These predicted events are judgments from God and happen a few months before the return of Christ. Even though scientists predict the likelihood of an asteroid impact, they have no clue how human beings will respond to the devastation resulting from the impact. But, God knows what man will do and Bible prophecy reveals how nations and people will respond after the predicted events occur!
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After an ImpactWhat would happen if two great asteroids impacted Earth with the results scientists expect? Since the Bible predicts two impacts, one hitting the sea and the other striking a landmass, briefly consider the dramatic outcome of such events.
The ocean impact would set up a sequence of events that would have long-term consequences:
1. First, a series of tidal waves would destroy many coastal cities. The violence of the affected ocean (caused by the displacement of billions of cubit feet of water in less than 30 seconds) would cause adjoining ocean tides to rampage, resulting in coastal regions far beyond the impacted ocean to be flooded and destroyed.
2. The shock waves from the initial impact would sink thousands of ships. Trade between nations would immediately stop. The violence of the ocean would continue to prevent ships from carrying food and merchandise between ports for several weeks.
3. These shock waves would also kill thousands of sea creatures. The death of many sea creatures would fill that portion of the ocean with rotten flesh and red tide. Red tide is an algae that looks like blood and flourishes in anoxic (oxygen deficient) water.
4. Weather patterns would be violently disrupted. Great hurricanes and thousands of tornados would be spawned by powerful changes in the atmosphere. The jet stream would be moved from its seasonal course and rains from the condensing water vapor would flood certain nations of Earth for weeks, while in other areas, famine would occur in otherwise fruitful places.
If an asteroid impacted a continent, the results would be no less devastating. Notice the events that would be set into motion:
1. An asteroid striking a continent would cause extensive death by contaminating the underground water supplies of large cities. Ground waves from the impact would sheer septic fields allowing deadly bacteria to enter the aquifers. The seismic havoc radiating from the impact site would destroy the geological integrity of toxic waste sites. The leakage of lethal chemicals and radioactive waste into underground streams would contaminate drinking water for thousands of square miles. Many people would die or become violently ill from drinking poisonous water.
2. A great impact would trigger earthquakes and tremors worldwide by releasing huge tectonic stresses.
3. The impact would disrupt the infrastructures of communication, travel and commerce. Even a remote impact zone would have horrific effects upon people living a thousand miles away.
4. If the impact were substantial enough, it is possible that even Earth’s orbit about the Sun could be altered – seasons would be hotter or colder than they now are. Further, the gravitational effect of the moon on the tides would be much more pronounced, causing continual flooding.
Obviously, the loss of human life would be pandemic in either scenario. This is why scientists catalog large asteroid impacts to be civilization-threatening. Scientists now believe that dinosaurs became extinct because of a great asteroid impact and the creatures that were not immediately destroyed by the impact either died from the resulting havoc or the famine that followed. Even though scientists estimate the dinosaurs disappeared from Earth about 65 million years ago, this writer believes the dinosaurs became extinct about 4 thousand years ago at the time of Noah’s flood. This writer also believes Noah’s flood was caused by asteroid impacts – sent as judgments from God! In other words, the rain that fell from the heavens for 40 days and nights was condensing water vapor from several impacts that occurred in a few hours.
© Wake Up America Seminars, Inc., 1999
