Spring Break
Nutcase gives failed predictions about aliens, tsunamis
By: Aaron Sakulich
Issue date: 7/14/06 Section: Sci-Tech
Originally published: 7/14/06 at 10:40 AM EST
Last update: 7/14/06 at 10:40 AM EST
Originally published: 7/14/06 at 10:40 AM EST
Last update: 7/14/06 at 10:40 AM EST
Eric Julien claims to have received his information about the comet fragment through psychic contact. I suppose if you believe that aliens are flying around in space blowing up comets, it's not too out there to believe that other aliens would warn us through psychic means, but ask yourself this: If the aliens were interested in warning us about an incoming comet chunk, why would they tell a kook like Julien? Hell, sending their psychic message to a guy at the Weather Channel would have been a better idea.
Eric Julien is a nutcase, the exact sort of person who you should not believe if he starts talking about psychic spaceship messages. But what about the science behind his theory that a comet striking the earth would create a "mega-tsunami"?
That's not the way it works. First of all, tsunamis are products of tectonic activity, such as earthquakes below the ocean floor, and not the product of something big falling into the water. Even if it would cause a tsunami, which is highly unlikely, there's absolutely no way to predict where a chunk of a comet would land many months in advance, and we would only be able to predict a tsunami a few hours in advance, at most. I guess the aliens have access to a huge number of supercomputers that run on a type of math we can't imagine.
On his Web site, Eric Julien has a number of maps of the areas to be worst affected. If I'm reading them correctly, the comet fragment was to strike the exact center of the Atlantic ocean. The tsunami was supposed to have completely covered the states of New Jersey and Florida, yet Cuba and some of the small islands off the coast of Africa were to have remained unharmed. The Netherlands was to be deep underwater, but Ireland and Spain, closer to the impact, wouldn't lose an inch of property. I have no idea how he came to these conclusions; I just know they sound ridiculous.
Add to this one more piece of science: The comet was something like 9 million kilometers away, and astronomers have been tracking it for roughly 80 years. In all of that time, no one has ever decided to warn us that something bad might happen. I guess when the government wants something kept under wraps, they really do a good job of it.
Eric Julien is a nutcase, the exact sort of person who you should not believe if he starts talking about psychic spaceship messages. But what about the science behind his theory that a comet striking the earth would create a "mega-tsunami"?
That's not the way it works. First of all, tsunamis are products of tectonic activity, such as earthquakes below the ocean floor, and not the product of something big falling into the water. Even if it would cause a tsunami, which is highly unlikely, there's absolutely no way to predict where a chunk of a comet would land many months in advance, and we would only be able to predict a tsunami a few hours in advance, at most. I guess the aliens have access to a huge number of supercomputers that run on a type of math we can't imagine.
On his Web site, Eric Julien has a number of maps of the areas to be worst affected. If I'm reading them correctly, the comet fragment was to strike the exact center of the Atlantic ocean. The tsunami was supposed to have completely covered the states of New Jersey and Florida, yet Cuba and some of the small islands off the coast of Africa were to have remained unharmed. The Netherlands was to be deep underwater, but Ireland and Spain, closer to the impact, wouldn't lose an inch of property. I have no idea how he came to these conclusions; I just know they sound ridiculous.
Add to this one more piece of science: The comet was something like 9 million kilometers away, and astronomers have been tracking it for roughly 80 years. In all of that time, no one has ever decided to warn us that something bad might happen. I guess when the government wants something kept under wraps, they really do a good job of it.
Anonymous
posted 7/16/06 @ 7:04 PM EST
Hi, from France... pity that all the other folks totally hooked on this story never managed to read the French sites because he's been banned, outlawed, ridiculed, and hated for at least two years, and even longer since his beginning. (Continued…)