[meteorite-list] Re:Comet hit Britain in mid sixth century, AD?

[Chris Peterson]

> Just as a matter of interest if someone has time to fiddle with it, what
> parameters would such a hypothetical body have to have to kill people 
> within
> a radius of  300 km (so along the whole western coast of England and 
> Wales)
> but leave those beyond still alive?

And not be recorded historically except in the most obscure and oblique 
fashion? And not leave any apparent geological or botanical effects? I'd say 
the parameters you are looking for would be supernatural.

Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Barford" <pbarford at pro.onet.pl>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 10:59 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Re:Comet hit Britain in mid sixth century, AD?


> Thanks Marco,
> In general, I think the theory is very dubious.  The guy was trying to
> explain how small numbers of Anglo-Saxon migrants replaced a much larger
> indigenous Celtic/British population both genetically and linguistically.
> But if the Britons were dying off in the 530s because of poor crop yields
> and cold nights or whatever caused by cometary dust in the atmosphere, 
> then
> the Anglo-Saxons would too.
>
> Unless of course somebody postulates an actual impact which wiped out a
> large part of the (British) population on the west side of the island, but
> was survived by larger numbers on the east  which is where the 
> Anglo-Saxons
> were.  But then that's not a good model either, because Ireland is where 
> it
> would have hit... and there is no evidence of such an event from there.
>
> Just as a matter of interest if someone has time to fiddle with it, what
> parameters would such a hypothetical body have to have to kill people 
> within
> a radius of  300 km (so along the whole western coast of England and 
> Wales)
> but leave those beyond still alive? [I could not get the Arizona Earth
> Impact Effects Program http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/ to give 
> the
> result I wanted - just curious].
>
> Paul Barford