CHAPTER ONE
CONVERGENCE
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_07a.jpg)
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Recovering the lost
messages of world mythology...
"Perseus Releases
Andromeda," painting by Joachim Wiewael, 1630. When king Cepheus
offended Poseidon, the god sent a flood and a sea monster to
devastate the land. Cepheus hoped to
appease the dragon by sacrificing his daughter. But Perseus, riding
the winged horse Pegasus, defeated
the monster, winning the king’s permission to wed Andromeda.
Beautiful princess, chaos dragon, warrior-hero, and lost kingdom:
the themes are commonplace in
world mythology. But the historic roots of the themes continue to
elude the experts who study them.
|
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_7.jpg)
. . .with new tools
and perspectives in the sciences
Beginning many centuries
ago, a rebellion against traditional myth and magic led to the
emergence
of the scientific method. Experiment and systematic observation of
nature replaced belief in the
gods of antiquity, leading eventually to an explosion of space age
discovery. Yet today many scientists
are re-examining mythology, wondering if ancient stories of disaster
have a scientific explanation.
Could the mythic “dragon’s assault,” for example, refer to a natural
catastrophe affecting the entire
earth? The answer to such questions could well come from the
surprising role of electricity in space. |
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_8.jpg)
The Roman
warrior Mithras (Persian Mithra) emerges from the cosmic egg,
carrying a lightning
bolt in his right hand and a staff in his left.
Around his body
entwines the cosmic serpent, the prototype of the mythic dragon.
The Lens of Human Perception
When we gaze up at the stars, do we believe what we see, or see what
we believe? Our beliefs and assumptions are like eyeglasses: they
can help us see more clearly, but they can also limit our field of
view.
Today, most astronomers assure us that the solar system is both
stable and predictable. But new vistas in the sciences often expose
flaws in notions that once seemed obvious. Only a few decades ago,
all well-trained, feet-on-the-ground scientists “knew” that:
-
Space is empty and
cannot conduct electricity
-
Magnetic fields do
not exist in space
-
The tails of comets
are pushed away from the Sun by the pressure of light
-
Jupiter and Saturn
have been cold and inactive since the early history of the solar
system
-
The planet Mars has
been geologically dead for more than a billion years
-
Venus is our "sister
planet," with temperatures close to those of the Earth
-
There are no other
galaxies outside our own
-
There is no evidence
for planet-wide geological disturbances of the Earth in the past
Before new
findings disproved these beliefs, they were so "obviously
true" as to discourage challenges. It is easy to confuse
theoretical assumption with fact, and today this tendency
often conceals a tacit belief that, despite the mistakes of
previous generations, we have the big picture right and the
remaining task is simply to tidy things up a bit.
The actual
situation in the sciences calls for openness to new
possibilities. Our vision of the universe is changing more
rapidly than ever before, as space exploration fuels an
explosion of discovery. Before the advent of the space age,
we could view the electromagnetic spectrum and into
infrared, microwave, and radio in the long wavelengths. We
can view at close range the surfaces of planets, moons,
asteroids and comets. We can even touch and chemically
"taste" them. |
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_9.jpg)
The monstrous
Tarantula Nebula, named for its many spidery filaments, is
one of innumerable pointers to magnetic fields in space, the
result of electric currents. |
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_10.jpg)
The new discoveries
accent the unexpected—a sign that something is wrong at the level of
theoretical assumptions. In fact, two of the most far-reaching
discoveries of the past century came as great surprises: the
pervasive role of charged particles or plasma in the universe; and
the signature of cosmic catastrophe throughout our solar system. The
"big picture" of space has changed.
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_11.jpg)
A logarithmic chart of
the electromagnetic spectrum reveals how narrow is the range of
visible light.
The shorter wavelengths emitted by celestial bodies (most
ultraviolet light, X-rays and Gamma Rays) do
not reach the surface of the Earth and can only be measured by
instruments placed in space. On
the other hand, radio waves between about a centimeter to 10 meters
in wavelength find the
atmosphere transparent. As a result, earth-based radio telescopes
have become an important
adjunct to traditional astronomy.
For centuries astronomers assumed that gravity is the only force
that can give birth to stars and planets or can direct the motions
of celestial bodies. With this assumption they ignored a much more
powerful agent in the universe—electricity. A
crescendo of evidence reviewed in this volume (and those to follow)
suggests that distant stars, our Sun, and the planets are
electrically charged bodies. We now know that the visible universe,
except for the Earth and a few rocky planets, moons and wandering
solid objects, is composed of highly conductive plasma, a form of
matter superficially similar to a
gas but containing positively and negatively charged particles. A
gas will not react to or generate electromagnetic forces. But a
plasma will.
Most astronomers believe that electric forces do not operate across
interplanetary and interstellar space. When they calculate the
enormous energy required to separate positive charge from negative
charge, they assume that positively and negatively charged particles
are always and everywhere in perfect balance. So their models for
the evolution of cosmic structure deal only with gravity.
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_12.jpg)
But precise electrical
neutrality throughout the universe is not a fact, it’s a precarious
assumption. If the assumption is wrong, the electric force can
hardly be ignored: it is much stronger and more versatile than
gravity. Gravity has only one mode for organizing matter—that of
attraction. The electric force can attract or repel. In addition,
electromagnetic attraction in a current-carrying plasma declines
linearly with distance from the axis of the current, while gravity
declines more rapidly, with the square of distance. In any attempt
to understand the new data from space, these considerations become
vital.
Unique Behavior of Plasma
Although plasma behavior follows simple electromagnetic laws, the
resulting complexity continues to astonish the specialists who study
it. Because plasma exhibits characteristics not found in solids,
liquids, or gases, it has been called "the fourth state of matter"
or "the fundamental state of matter." It can self-organize into
cells of differing electrical characteristics. Electric currents in
plasma form filaments that attract each other at long distances and
repel each other at short distances. These filaments tend to braid
themselves into "ropes" that act as power transmission lines, with
virtually no limit to the distances over which they can operate.
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_13.jpg)
A portrait of the center
of our Milky Way galaxy constructed from radio data.
NASA spokesmen note "the
arcs, threads, and filaments which abound in the scene.
Their uncertain origins
challenge present theories of the dynamics of the galactic center."
Arcs, threads and
filaments are typical forms of electrical discharge in plasma.
In the rarefied
plasma of
space, the subtle flow of electricity is not easily measured, but
these currents leave a definitive signature—a network of magnetic
fields throughout the observed universe. Astronomers detect these
fields but give no attention to the electrical cause: magnetic
fields are produced only by electricity. The complex magnetic fields
we observe are evidence that plasma is carrying electrical energy
across galactic and intergalactic space, powering and organizing
secondary systems, including galaxies, stars, and planets.
Exceedingly subtle charge imbalances, across the immense volume of
space, are quite sufficient to configure and animate cosmic
structures at all scales of observation.
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_14.jpg)
Solar prominences reveal the
powerful influence of magnetic fields. However, magnetic
fields require electric currents, and the fields alone do
not cause the prominences. The picture above is direct
evidence of electrical discharge on the Sun. |
To see the connection
between plasma experiments and plasma formations in space, it is
essential to understand the scalability of plasma phenomena. Under
similar conditions, plasma discharge will produce the same
formations irrespective of the size of the event.
The same basic patterns
will be seen at laboratory, planetary, stellar, and galactic levels.
Duration is proportional to size as well. A spark that lasts for
microseconds in the laboratory may continue for years at planetary
or stellar scales, or for millions of years at galactic or
intergalactic scales.
The scalability of plasma events enables researchers, utilizing
laboratory experiments and supercomputer simulation, to replicate
stellar and galactic evolution, including many enigmatic formations
only recently discovered in deep space. Gravitational models do not
achieve comparable success, and often fail completely.
|
Many of astronomy’s most
fundamental mysteries find their resolution in plasma behavior. Why
do cosmic bodies spin, asked the distinguished astronomer Fred
Hoyle, in summarizing the unanswered questions. Plasma experiments
show that rotation is a natural function of interacting currents in
plasma. Currents can pinch matter together to form rotating stars
and galaxies. A good example is the ubiquitous spiral galaxy, a
predictable configuration of a cosmic-scale discharge.
Computer models of two current filaments
interacting in a plasma have, in fact, reproduced fine details of
spiral galaxies, where the gravitational schools must rely on
invisible matter arbitrarily placed wherever it is needed to make
their models "work."
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_15.jpg)
It is worth noting also
that plasma experiments, backed by computer simulations of plasma
discharge, can produce galactic structures without recourse to a
popular fiction of modern astrophysics—the Black Hole. Astronomers
require invisible, super-compressed matter as the center of galaxies
because without Black Holes gravitational equations cannot account
for observed movement and compact energetic activity. But charged
plasma achieves such effects routinely.
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_16.jpg)
Spiral galaxy M81, in
one of the first images returned by NASA’s new Spitzer space
telescope.
The telescope can detect extremely faint waves of infrared
radiation, or heat, through clouds
of dust and plasma that have blocked the view of conventional
telescopes.
Planets, Comets,
and Plasma Discharge
The new revelations of plasma science enable us to see that planets
are charged bodies moving through a weak electric field of the Sun.
Astronomers do not recognize planetary charge because the planets
now move on nearly circular orbits. The change in electric potential
during a revolution is so minimal as to produce no obvious effects.
(We take up the subtle indicators of planetary circuits in our
discussion of auroras, weather patterns, lightning, dust devils, and
tornadoes in Chapter V.)
It is easier to see the electric force in action when a comet
approaches the Sun on an elongated orbit that carries it quickly
into regions of greater electrical stress. Plasma will
form a cell, or "sheath," around any object within it that has a
different electric potential. If the potential difference is low,
the plasma sheath will be invisible. This is the case with the
planets, whose plasma sheaths are called "magnetospheres"
because the planetary magnetic field is trapped inside. Unlike a
planet, however, a comet, spends most of its time far from the Sun
and takes on a charge in balance with that region of the Sun’s
electric field. As it speeds
toward the Sun, its charge is increasingly out of balance with its
surroundings. Eventually, the plasma sheath glows in response to the
electric stresses. This is what we see as the coma and ion tail of a
comet. The dust tail is formed when more intense discharge—in the
form of an electric arc to the comet nucleus—removes surface
material and launches it into space. The internal electric stress
may even blow the comet apart, as often and "inexplicably" occurs.
Our claim that
comets are electrical in nature can be easily tested. The
standard model of comets explains them as "dirty snowballs"
sublimating under the heat of the Sun. Escaping water vapor
generates the coma and is "blown" away by the solar wind to
produce the diffuse tail. In the electrical model a large
rock on an elliptical orbit—and containing no volatiles
(ices) to evaporate—will still generate a coma and tail from
the surrounding plasma in response to the voltage
difference.
To decide the
issue, therefore, we ask the question: are comet nuclei
"wet" or "dry"? The spacecraft Deep Space 1 has
already answered the question: As it flew by the nucleus of
Comet Borrelly, it found the surface was "hot
and dry." With no other model but that of the dirty
snowball, astronomers could only assume that water must be
present, but hidden inside the comet! Then, NASA’s
Stardust probe to comet Wild-2 startled
investigators with its sharply defined and
"completely unexpected" craters, suggesting a rocky body
that challenged the entire concept of sublimating cometary
snowballs. |
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_17.jpg)
Photograph of
the comet Hale Bopp, taken April 7, 1997 as it receded from
the Sun, passing in front of a star cluster in the
constellation Perseus. In addition to the dust tail of the
comet, the filamentary bluish ion tail (positively charged
particles) testifies to electrical behavior of comets only
recently recognized. |
Plasma Phenomena in Ancient Times
The cometary display
offers a glimpse of possibilities on a larger scale if we dare to
step into unexplored territory. What would have happened
gravitationally and electrically if planets formerly moved on paths
that induced high-energy discharge? And how might we know about such
events, or determine with a measure of reliability when they
occurred?
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_18.jpg) |
Electrical principles
will not just change our ideas about gravity and planetary
stability. They will also affect what we
see and hear in messages from our early ancestors. Over the past
century and a half, archaeologists have unearthed huge libraries of
ancient texts, many of them describing great spectacles in the
heavens. But the specialists set aside
these descriptions as "untrustworthy" because they accept a priori
the clockwork solar system assumed by astronomers.
Historians do not doubt that the ancient sky looked almost exactly
like our sky today. Consequently, they give little or no attention
to the "extravagant" or "nonsensical" claims of early sky
worshippers.
Allow intense plasma
activity into the picture, however, and the ancient images begin to
make sense. The sky was a theater of awe and terror: on this the
witnesses of antiquity speak with one voice.
Though presented in the
language of myth and symbol, ancient accounts are filled with images
of electricity in a terrifying form— as the lightning bolt wielded
by gods and heroes. |
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_19.jpg) |
UPPER:
Greek Zeus launching his far-famed thunderbolt. LOWER:
Tibetan Dorje, the divine thunderbolt.
Both forms reveal similarities to plasma discharge patterns. |
The "thunderbolts of the
gods" defy every effort to understand them as references to familiar
lightning. They spiral and whirl and entwine. They blossom as a
flower, or stand as a great pillar supporting the sky.
When referred to natural phenomena on earth the images could not be
more preposterous. Yet the divine thunderbolt of world mythology and
symbolism finds its parallels in electrical discharge structures
seen in plasma laboratory experiments. One outstanding example
(featured on the cover of this book) is the way Greek sculptors
carved the thunderbolt in the hand of the god Zeus. Called the
"lotus form," it looks like an elongated football with spiral
threads. Tibetans molded the gods’ thunderbolt into the form of a
short double trident or scepter, which lamas hold during prayer.
These forms resemble the shapes taken by electric discharge in a
near-vacuum.
When provoked, such “lightning gods” as the Greek Zeus or Apollo—and
a thousand counterparts in other cultures—move about as fierce and
towering forms in the heavens. In their appearance, these gods
answer to no recognizable entity or force of nature. Indeed, the
outrageous descriptions will tempt us to regard the chroniclers as
relentless liars. But a much different understanding of ancient
accounts is possible, if we grant to the original witnesses a
certain integrity. We do not need to regard their testimony as
"scientifically accurate." We need only acknowledge that the core
themes of mythology may have originated in extraordinary natural
events, for which ancient races had no cultural preparation.
If this was the case,
the stories are a form of historic testimony in the only languages
that were available to the eyewitnesses themselves. It then becomes
clear that around the world many different hieroglyphs and symbols
actually described identical celestial phenomena. This discovery, in
turn, requires that we follow logical rules for dealing with
converging testimony. How do we uncover the forgotten events now
hidden behind the different symbols they inspired?
In our surveys of archaic gods and monsters, we discover that the
points of cross-cultural agreement defy every attempt to trivialize
them—not because the ancient images are scientifically impressive,
but because the same outlandish images recur from one culture to
another. Consider, for example, the chaos monsters of the archaic
cultures—such serpents or dragons as the Babylonian Tiamat, the
Egyptian Apep, or the Greek Typhon—said to have attacked and
devastated the world. |
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_20.jpg)
What was the
cosmic serpent or dragon so universally feared in
ancient times? In contests with these chaos forces, the
gods’
favorite weapon was the thunderbolt. |
Neither these enemies of
cosmic order, nor the gods they opposed, nor the far-famed
"thunderbolts" displayed in these encounters trace to anything
experienced in our time. The gods not only vanquish cosmic serpents
and winged monsters with their thunderbolts; they blast each other
with lightning in earthshaking conflagrations. Such themes lie at
the heart of every culture’s mythology. But universal mythology does
not answer to our familiar world.
Convergence of Myth and Science
The meeting of diverse disciplines in this book mirrors the
respective research paths of the two authors. For more than a
quarter century they labored in separate fields: David Talbott
pursued a comparative study of ancient cultural themes, while
Wallace Thornhill investigated the role of electricity in the
universe and in solar system evolution. The authors presented their
work together for the first time at a conference (organized by Dave)
in Portland, Oregon, in 1994. Inspired by the common ground they
shared, they began to explore the convergence further.
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_21.jpg)
TOP: David
Talbott’s book, The Saturn Myth (Doubleday, 1980) proposed
that a former planetary configuration close to the earth
inspired the archetypes of world mythology. BOTTOM: Wallace
Thornhill’s CD, The Electric Universe (1998), suggested that
electrical forces once dominated solar system evolution.
|
In December 1996 Wal
again flew to Portland from Canberra, Australia, in advance of a
January 1997 conference on "The Recent History of the Solar
System." He camped out in Dave’s office and for four weeks the two compared
notes.
In analyzing ancient beliefs and practices, Dave had
uncovered many cross-cultural patterns. He concluded that these
patterns reflect
celestial events no longer occurring. Though other students of
comparative religion and mythology had noticed many of the themes,
no one could explain them consistently in terms of familiar natural
phenomena. Yet the global themes, Dave realized, are consistent with
an unfamiliar celestial order, one involving planets, our Earth
included, moving in close congregation. He envisioned an ancient
assembly of planets and moons, with interactions between nearby
bodies producing animated and often symmetrical arrangements of dust
and glowing gas that stretched across the sky of earthbound
witnesses.
Though gravitational dynamics could not explain the model, Dave
believed the cross-cultural evidence to be definitive, and he
suspected the formations could be explained by electromagnetism. But
he knew nothing of plasma behavior, having restricted his primary
research to the points of agreement between the ancient cultures. By
1997 he had produced more than three dozen "snapshots" of an
evolving, sometimes stable, but often violently unstable,
configuration of planets appearing gigantic in the heavens.
Meanwhile, Wal had been
documenting evidence for electrical interactions between planets in
prehistoric times, seeking to reconcile plasma science and planetary
geology with the human testimony gathered by other researchers. When
he saw Dave’s reconstructed images, he recognized them as plasma
discharge structures. He showed Dave an image of a radial discharge
from a plasma focus device
(photograph below right)
that matched Dave’s own reconstructions.
The dynamics of the
plasma focus device resolved several paradoxes that had frustrated
Dave for more than twenty years. What gave the luminous
streamers—radiating from the center of the con-figuration—their
unusual symmetry? Why were there sometimes three streamers and at
other times four or eight, or more? Why did the streamers sometimes
curl into a triskeleon, swastika, or whorl? And why did they take on
the appearance of wildly disheveled "hair" in periods of celestial
disorder? |
The various forms of
discharge from the plasma focus answered each question. The
repulsive force between the individual streamers will spread them
into symmetrically spaced equilibrium positions. As the intensity of
the discharge grows, so do the number of streamers. And though the
physics of the plasma focus device is simple, the interplay of
electric and magnetic fields can become complex, often with the
result that the streamers undulate and twist into more elaborate
forms.
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_22.jpg)
This image
comes from the documentary, “Remembering the End of the
World,” by Canadian Filmmaker Ben Ged Low, offering
glimpses of the “Saturn theory.”
Here, the hypothesized
planetary configuration is juxtaposed with later
Egyptian monuments harking back to the age of the gods.
|
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_24.jpg)
Discharge
from a plasma focus device, as recorded by a research
team headed by plasma scientist Anthony Peratt. |
Selected
“snapshots” of the hypothesized planetary configuration, based on
images from the documentary,
“Remembering the End of the World” and
David Tal-bott’s conference slide presentations.
Plasma
Cosmology—The Leading Edge of Science
In their endeavors together, Dave and Wal were mindful of the clash
between their views and those of the scientific mainstream. Yet they
were confident that openings for theoretical reconciliation were
possible through the vision of several scientific trailblazers. One
innovator of great interest to both researchers was engineer Ralph Juergens. His groundbreaking work on the "electric sun" and on the
electrical scarring of planets, though largely ignored for more than
three decades, adds direct support to the hypothesis presented in
these pages. Juergens himself was inspired by Dr. Charles Bruce of
the Electrical Research Association in England, who observed that
the Sun’s photosphere behaved in the fashion of an electric arc. If
the Sun is powered electrically, as claimed by Juergens, then
standard theories of star formation and solar system evolution must
be corrected at the level of fundamental assumptions.
Two other pioneers whose work leads to a deeper understanding of
plasma and electricity are Kristian Birkeland and Irving Langmuir.
Birkeland’s experiments early in the twentieth century showed how
current filaments in plasma join in entwined pairs, now called
“Birkeland currents.” Langmuir’s experimental work gave rise to the
word "plasma," due to the life-like behavior of this conductive
medium. He demonstrated how the plasma sheath insulates a charged
sphere from its plasma environment. This sheath is now crucial to
the understanding of the so-called "magnetospheres" of planets,
though few astronomers take into account the electrical
implications.
One of the most respected innovators was Nobel Laureate Hannes
Alfvén, the father of plasma cosmology, an approach to cosmic
evolution based on electric forces that were unknown to the authors
of gravitational theory. It was Alfvén who developed the first models
of galactic structure and star formation based on electrical
principles, and his challenges to the "pure mathematics" of modern
cosmology arose from experimental evidence that can no longer be
ignored.
Alfven’s close colleague,
Anthony Peratt
(image right), later extended his
investigation, conducting experiments with far-reaching implications
for the understanding of galaxies, stars, and the evolution of
planetary systems. From graduate school until Alfvén’s death in
1995, Peratt worked with the pioneer to define the frontiers of
plasma cosmology, a subject highlighted in Eric Lerner’s popular
book, The Big Bang Never Happened. His work included unprecedented
three-dimensional simulations of galaxy evolution and of other
plasma structures in space. Today he is internationally recognized
as an authority on plasma discharge instabilities and their
three-dimensional simulation.
Using equations that describe the interactions of electric and
magnetic fields (Maxwell-Lorentz equations), Peratt developed a super
computer program to mimic the effects of electric discharge within a
large volume of charged particles. His "Particle in Cell" (PIC)
simulations have produced formations that are virtually indistinguishable from the energetic patterns of actual galaxies,
as can be seen below.
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_28.jpg)
Peratt’s book The Physics of the Plasma Universe has led the way to
a new understanding of the mathematics of plasma behavior and the
role of electricity in the cosmos. Due in large part to the
Coalition of Plasma Science, of which Peratt is a member, the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the world’s
largest scientific and technical society, announced that it would
recognize “Plasma Cosmology” as an official discipline in science.
Plasma Laboratory Images in Ancient Art
Around 1998, a professor of electrical engineering and lifelong
amateur astronomer, Donald Scott, happened across Wal’s website (Holoscience.com)
and began to ask questions. Soon his retirement from teaching became
a full-time exploration of the "The Electric Cosmos" (the title of
his recently completed book). Scott contends in his book that the
gravitational doctrines of modern astronomy must give way to a new
theoretical framework honoring electricity as the more fundamental
force in the heavens. He writes:
There is a
revolution just beginning in astronomy/cosmology that will rival
the one set off by Copernicus and Galileo. This revolution is
based on the growing realization that the cosmos is highly
electrical in nature. It is becoming clear that 99% of the
universe is made up not of "invisible matter", but rather, of
matter in the plasma state. Electrodynamic forces in electric
plasmas are much stronger than the gravitational force.
Scott quickly emerged as
a key consultant to Dave and Wal, with a deep personal interest in
the historical reconstruction. It was this interest that led him to
contact Anthony Peratt, enabling Dave to follow up with a personal
phone call. Dave showed Peratt a wide range of petroglyph themes.
Peratt was intrigued by the striking similarities to plasma
discharge formations, and he began his own investigation of rock
art.
For over three decades Peratt’s laboratory research
concentrated on the instabilities that develop in high-energy
discharges, and he documented the evolution of the these formations
through dozens of unique configurations. In supercomputer
simulations, using the very equations that have reproduced galactic
structure, he has replicated the dynamics of laboratory discharges,
with surprisingly accurate results. Many of the configurations had never been documented prior
to this work; Peratt simply named them according to their
configurations
such as the "Christmas Tree instability". In this book we shall
categorize these forms (now numbering over 80) as "Peratt
Instabilities."
Could Peratt’s laboratory science illuminate the plasma discharge
occurring in the ancient sky? The key, Dave believed, would be the
enigmatic images drawn on stone from prehistoric times onward. If
early man witnessed awe-inspiring electrical phenomena on a scale
immeasurably greater than a regional lightning storm, then surely
the most direct source of information would be literal drawings of
the formations. Over many years, Dave had catalogued dozens of
patterns, but not all of them made sense, either to Dave or to
Wal.
Yet many of the patterns and associations could be confirmed around
the world.
The liaison with Peratt led to many surprises, not just for
Dave and Wal, but for Peratt as well. With the
very first petroglyph that Dave
showed him, Peratt had little doubt as to the subject. The details
were too specific and too precise to be anything other than a “Peratt
Instability.” A flurry of communications followed, in which Dave sent
to Peratt examples of widely-distributed rock art themes, and
Peratt
responded by identifying their place in the laboratory discharge
sequence.
Because the lower-energy forms of plasma discharge can be seen in
present-day auroras, Peratt wondered if the ancient artists
may have witnessed an episode of high-energy plasma incursion
into Earth’s atmosphere, what he called an "enhanced aurora."
In his personal investigation of rock art themes, he concentrated
his field
work in the American Southwest and Northwest, but also gathered data
internationally. For his on-site study he used GPS longitude and
latitude positions, always noting the probable orientation or field
of view.
A team of about 30 volunteers, including specialists from several fields,
assisted Peratt in the investigation, and he has since gathered tens
of thousands of images. While the recorded artistic forms correspond
to nothing visible in the heavens today, they accurately depict the
evolution of the plasma instabilities. Peratt reports that "some 87
different categories of plasma instabilities have been identified
among the archaic petroglyphs and there exists nearly none whose
whole or parts do not fit this delineation."
One example of an instability form found globally in rock art is a
stick figure with circles or dots on each side of its torso. In
plasma experiments, this configuration appears when donut-like toroids,
stacked one upon another, are bent by induced magnetic fields.
From the viewpoint of the observer, the edges of the upper donuts of
the figure may appear to point up (forming "arms") and the lower
donuts appear to point down (forming "legs").
Following an intensive investigation,
Peratt began summarizing his findings in
peer-reviewed journals. His first article, “Characteristics for
the Occurrence of a High-Current, Z-Pinch Aurora as recorded in
Antiquity,” was published by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers, in its Transactions on Plasma Science
for December 2003. |
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_30.jpg)
Peratt’s depiction of a
plasma configuration’s geometry
as produced in laboratory experiments and computer simulations.
The geometry relates directly to
the rock art images discussed
below. |
Peratt states his conclusion forthrightly: The
recurring petroglyph patterns “are reproductions of plasma phenomena
in space.”
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_29.jpg) |
Many global
patterns found in rock art are not just unusual.
They include
unique details, such as the two dots or circles to the
left and right of a central “stick” figure in these images from
around the world.
The global examples here were gathered by Anthony Peratt after the September, 2000 Portland conference.
|
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_32.gif)
Variations
on the “stick man and two dots” theme in the Americas. |
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_31.jpg)
Graphic
illustration of the stacked toroids in the Peratt
Instability on the left. Computer simulation of the experimental
results. |
Though the dynamic possibilities are complex, the sequences followed
are predictable. In the stacked toroids, for example, the sets of
"arms and legs," will not always be limited to one each, and
petroglyphs often display multiple sets of "arms" or "legs" in a
vertical stack.
In laboratory experiments and in computer simulations,
Peratt has
demonstrated that two braided current filaments (called "Birkeland
currents") naturally tend to draw closer. As they do, they rotate
about each other faster and faster. If the current is strong enough,
it may "pinch off" in what is known as a "sausage" instability,
forming a series of cells that look like a string of sausages or a
string of pearls. The sausage ‘links’ form spheroids that envelop toroids (thick rings or donuts) of electrical current circling the
initial line current. This formation remains stable for a relatively
long period, accreting matter at the center of each toroid. But
eventually the formation reaches a threshold point and breaks apart.
Given below is Peratt’s identification of the respective components
in a pictograph from Kayenta, Arizona, whose unique features make
the plasma explanation definitive. The upper terminus shows the twin
filaments of a tightly bound plasma column, these typically flaring
out as the column evolves.
Peratt writes:
Six flattened tori are depicted … whose features can be shown to be
exact in detail. The spacing and the shape of the ‘bars’ as well as
the
fine structure at the tips of the disks are precise. Slight
curvature in the ‘bars’ indicates that state transition is imminent.
It should also be noted that the lowest disk is about one-half the
size of the stack above. The stack also opens out slightly in the
direction of the terminus. The geometrical shape of the terminus …
is an exact representation of experimental data.
[Peratt, Scope
Study, 2000]
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_34.jpg)
The
Australian rock art image above can be compared with the
variations in the stacked toroids as illustrated by the
four American Indian design elements above. For
further background, see discussion of Peratt
Instabilities |
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_35.jpg) |
Peratt notes that, while the phase of
stacked toroids is relatively stable, this particular
pictograph represents a critical juncture in its progression toward
collapse—"the onset of a chaotic change of state." For inhabitants
of Earth, standing with an open view to the configuration would likely have been extremely dangerous due to the
intense radiation.]
Peratt was impressed not only by the precise accord of rock art
images to experimental and simulated forms, but also by the detailed
correspondences of images in different parts of the world. He only
needed to adjust for the different lines of sight to obtain
remarkably accurate overlays. An example of this is seen below, in a
category of images Peratt calls the "Stonehenge" type. Here,
Peratt
overlays a carved granite petroglyph in Northeastern Arizona
with a "Wandjina" pictograph in
Northeastern Australia. To adjust
for divergent lines of sight, he digitally tilted the latter 45.3
degrees. Then the fit was perfect.
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_36.jpg)
The overlay is so exact that the only way I could illustrate this
was to extrude the Arizona petroglyph (in white) and lay a flat
black Wandjina on top. That is, everywhere you see black on white, even
the edges, is the overlay. This technique still does not do the
overlay justice …. My claim that at least a lifetime was spent
carving some of these petroglyphs in granite with stone instruments
is based on both the overlay factor and comparison to experimental
data.
This identity of images from around the world is a common feature in
Peratt’s catalog of ancient art. "An appreciable number of the
categories contain petroglyphs that overlay to the degree that they
are ‘cookie cutter’ templates of each other," he states. Through
computer processing his data enable him to project what was seen in
the sky in three dimensions. The pictographs themselves can be
arranged to form animation cells, enabling him to produce an
animation of the laboratory sequences using only the pictographs—a
complete match between the images on stone and the complex evolution
of the plasma instabilities.
Eye Mask
Very early in his liaison with Peratt, Dave drew attention to what
he called the "eye mask" (seen at the bottom of the
Kayenta glyph
above), another form that had long posed a mystery to him. He had
collected a series of "eye mask" images, ranging from
Easter Island
in the southern hemisphere to North America, Europe, ancient
Mesopotamia, and elsewhere. From the global distribution he had
deduced that the formation was seen from both hemispheres.
Peratt immediately identified the eye mask as a "low opacity torus”
or thick ring, seen from a vantage-point substantially off axis, not
too far from the plane of the torus.
The most intense currents in a
plasma torus are concentrated at the center and surrounded by a
number of concentric "shells." Because the outer shells have a low
opacity, an observer can see deeply inside the torus. The center of
the toroid cross section becomes more visible at optical wavelengths
as the outer plasma shells become less opaque. In addition, the
toroid tends to flatten with increasing current, a characteristic
revealed by innumerable instances of the eye mask globally and as
seen in the ancient Sumerian symbols of the goddess Inanna
(below on the
right.)
A Radical Approach to Rock Art
Peratt’s findings are particularly significant in their
contrast to traditional explanations of rock art. The majority of
rock art authorities, particularly those who have concentrated on
Native American sources, argue that only images of the sun,
moon, and stars reflect real celestial phenomena. Apart from such associations, most
specialists claim that global patterns do not exist. Many attribute
the more unusual elements in rock art to subjective shamanistic
trances, explaining the "unnatural" representations as unique
expressions within each culture. Peratt’s rock art investigations
put an exclamation point to the universal character of rock art
images:
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_37.gif)
Rock
drawings of the “eye mask” from Easter Island. |
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_39.jpg)
The “eye mask” formation
stands in intimate connection to the mythical divine
mother, often called the “eye goddess,” but also
appearing enigmatically in the form of an “owl.” Here we
see the owl form of the Greek goddess Athene.
|
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_38.jpg)
Peratt’s computer simulations of the plasma torus reveal the
dynamics of the ancient “eye mask” form, while also explaining its
connection to the “owl” manifestations of the ancient goddess. |
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_40.gif)
“Eye-idols” of the Sumerian goddess Inanna,
identified with
the planet Venus. |
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_41.jpg)
“She Who Watches,” a popular eye goddess
of the Columbia
River region in the northwestern
U.S.
In the more archaic depictions, the detailed correspondence to
plasma discharge formations excludes a primary role of subjective
trances.
It now appears that dating of the events is also possible. Through
plasma extraction techniques, various figures painted with pigments
that have leached into the rock, and where lower layers still
contain the bright pigments, can be "precisely dated," Peratt
reports. In the dating process, by cross-referencing the dates from
plasma extraction with laboratory data on the discharge sequence,
"extracting dates seems certain." He presently estimates that the 87
categories generally fall in a range from 7,000 BC to 3,000 BC.
Today, more than a dozen qualified individuals, constituting an
interdisciplinary nucleus, are working to reconstruct details of the
ancient celestial dramas. Though the individuals come from diverse
fields of inquiry, all agree that the accord between ancient images
and plasma configurations is too detailed and too specific to be explained
as accidental convergence. All have concluded that immense discharge
formations appeared in the sky of ancient witnesses and that the
violent evolution of these formations must have instilled
overwhelming terror.
Despite this underlying agreement, however, two quite different
vantage points are represented within the group. Neither Peratt nor
his predecessor Hannes Alvén proposed to rewrite the recent history
of the solar system. In his published overview of the petroglyphs,
Peratt suggested intense auroral activity with energetic levels of
discharge far greater than anything observed in modern times. He has
listened to, but not endorsed, Dave’s and Wal’s planetary
reconstruction. As Peratt himself put it, his auroral hypothesis is
“radical enough to draw the line right there!”
But Dave and Wal, together with a half-dozen other researchers,
believe the “next steps” are inescapable. A unified theory is now
possible, integrating the petroglyph data with
complementary fields
of evidence. Here, plasma cosmology and planetary geology combine
with cross cultural investigation to give a reliable picture of
anciently-remembered events. As the authors intend to demonstrate,
charged planets close to Earth were the anodes and cathodes
(positively and negatively charged electrodes) in heaven spanning
discharge formations.
Unstable Solar System
Electrical models of solar system genesis imply a history of the
planets bearing little resemblance to standard textbook
descriptions. Planets have not always moved on their present
courses. If stars are formed by electrical discharge and remain the
focus of discharge, we can no longer simply project current
planetary motions backward into primordial times. We cannot assume a
closed and isolated system. Changes in the galactic currents
powering the system can alter both stellar behavior and planetary
behavior suddenly and extravagantly.
How stable was the solar
system in the past? Though orbital instability is a certainty in the
long term evolution of an electrical model, it may be short-lived as
electrical forces act to minimize interactions between the charged
bodies.
A chaotic system
will move toward stable electrical and gravitational equilibrium,
and this means that popular computer simulations of planetary
orbits, based on gravity alone and simply projecting present motions
backwards, will give no clue as to the earlier condition or its
disruption.
Many questions concerning the stability of planetary orbits in the
past can only be resolved through direct observation, and the first
place to look will be the solid bodies in the solar system, many of
them retaining pristine geologic records of past events.
Under the
conditions implied by electrical models, planet-wide discharges
would have left a multitude of electrical scars, and we must ask if
planets and moons were formerly immersed in electrical discharge,
perhaps at energy levels capable of removing or electrically
implanting surface material miles deep in a short time.
|
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_42.jpg)
Maya observatory. Ancient astronomers, from Babylonia to China and
Mesoamerica, observed the movements of planets with meticulous care
and deep anxiety, believing that planets possessed the power to
destroy the world. |
To ask this question is to confront one of the great surprises of
the space age—the ravaged surfaces of solid planets and moons. As
the following chapters will show, sweeping catastrophes have
occurred within our solar system, and the signature of electrical
discharge is ever present (See chapters X and XI.). Hence, in evaluating cross-cultural memories, it is essential that the investigator
free himself from all theoretical prejudices of the past century.
Early humans witnessed the devastation of planets, and the story
they preserved for us requires more radical explanations than
anything either astronomers or plasma cosmologists have yet
proposed.
Planets and Cosmic Thunderbolts
No investigation of the human past can afford to ignore the vast
human testimony that complements and explains the plasma
formations carved or painted on stone. Why, for
example, did the first
astronomers, whose meticulous observations and mathematical skills
we so admire, insist that the ruling powers of heaven, the agents of
cosmic destruction and restoration, were planets? Some would say
that this mockery of our comfortable beliefs is a sign of ancient
schizophrenia. But is it possible that today’s historians, under the
spell of a now-peaceful solar system, have failed to discern the
heart of the ancient message?
Often it is the "unbelievable beliefs" that provide decisive clues.
In classical times, the renowned naturalists of Greece
and Rome (Aristotle, Pliny, and
Seneca, for example) stood at a critical turn in the evolution
of human thought. They frequently expressed skepticism about the
extraordinary ideas inherited from more archaic times. But even as
they strove to demythologize their cultural history, they reported
two curious traditions from the ancient Near East. One
tradition claimed that the great comets so feared in
antiquity were planets or arose as a stream of fire between
planets. The other claimed the same thing about the divine
thunderbolt: it was either launched by planets or took the
form of a fiery stream
between planets. In both instances, the subject was planets in close
approach. Did the little specks of light we call "planets" today
inspire these outrageous beliefs, in direct contradiction of simple
observation?
The Greek and Roman
chroniclers expressed their doubts about such traditions. But if
unfamiliar events provoked the more archaic traditions, then
classical philosophers, accustomed to predictable planetary motions,
would have easily misunderstood the reports that came down to them.
(For a full discussion of the cosmic thunderbolt in cross-cultural
traditions, see Chapter III.)
Our early ancestors were obsessed with extraordinary natural events,
and their testimony points to a prior epoch of planetary instability
and disaster. Cosmic catastrophe produced an outpouring of human
imagination as, around the world, the witnesses sought to interpret
terrifying spectacles in the heavens.
Our view of rock art, therefore, must take into account the full
range of evidence. Ancient witnesses and their successors did indeed
draw pictures of plasma formations stretched out above them. But
there is much more. In their response to the remembered "age of gods
and wonders" the sky worshippers produced the great myths, symbols,
and religious texts of antiquity. They expressed their fears in
astronomical diaries. They recounted tales of celestial upheaval,
reenacting the events in sacred dramas and mystery plays. And they
honored the same events through monumental construction, bringing
forth the great temples, cities, and kingdoms of the first
civilizations. Ancient cultural records thus constitute an
invaluable source of information, all of it susceptible to rigorous
analysis in the light of scientific discovery.
Valles Marineris
Outside the boundaries of specialized inquiry lie undiscovered
possibilities. But the convergence of science and historical
investigation requires a two-way flow of communication. Ancient
testimony will expand the horizons of science just as surely as the
"plasma universe" can illuminate the roots of world mythology and
symbolism. We shall illustrate this convergence with the following
example.
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_43.jpg)
During their extended visit in December 1996
Dave and Wal realized
that they shared an interest in one of the most remarkable
geological features in the solar system—Valles Marineris on
Mars. If
this giant chasm were on Earth, it would run from San Francisco to
New York and swallow hundreds of Grand Canyons. When planetary
scientists discovered this continental-scale trench, many proposed
catastrophic flooding as the cause. But scrutiny of later images
revealed no outwash or debris field left by erosion, and there was
no sign of ponding. Geologists began to speculate about "unknown"
causes of surface spreading and "mass wasting" on a scale never
before imagined. But there is no sign of where the "wasted" mass has
gone. What force could have removed two million cubic kilometers
from the Martian surface?
In the early 1970’s, Ralph Juergens had proposed that electrical
arcs between celestial bodies created many geologic features of the
Moon and Mars, removing large portions of the excavated material
into space. Dave himself had published Juergens’ groundbreaking work
on the subject. Dave recalled an earlier image of Mars returned by
the Mariner 4 probe showing a hemisphere of Mars visually dominated
by Valles Marineris.
The Mariner image, illuminated by Juergens’ proposal, suggested a
possibility that had never been considered before.
Many cultures recall a mythical warrior or giant struck down by a
thunderbolt and scarred by the deep gash or wound it left on his
forehead, cheek, or thigh. Around the world, astronomical traditions
associate the warrior archetype with the planet Mars.
Dave called
this particular warrior theme the "Scarface motif" after the
legendary Blackfoot Indian warrior, Scarface. The Blackfoot knew the
same figure as "Star Boy," a close counterpart of the
Pawnee warrior
Morning Star—explicitly identified as the planet Mars (not
Venus as
some might have supposed).
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_44.jpg)
One of the first close-ups of Mars by the Mariner 4 space
probe in 1965 revealed the huge scar of Valles Marineris.
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_45.jpg)
Recent photographs of Valles Marineris
show a pattern of sharply defined trenches, grooves, and crater chains, with no
indications of water erosion. It seems the material was simply
removed by an external force.
But what? The similarity to lightning
trenches is unmistakable.
On the other side of the world,
Greek
mythology described various warriors and rogues struck down by a
lightning bolt. When Ares, the planet Mars, was wounded in battle,
he roared with the shout of a thousand warriors and rushed to Zeus
to display the deep gash. So too, the hero Heracles, also identified
with Mars, was remembered for the deep wound on his "hip-joint." The
giant Enceladus, vanquished by Zeus, was the "lightning scarred"
god, as was the more notorious monster Typhon. Hindu myths speak of
the deep scar on the head of the warrior Indra, god of the cosmic
thunderbolt. And a thunderbolt was said to have scarred the giant
Ravena.
RIGHT:
Pattern traced by a spark across an insulating surface
dusted with fine powder. |
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_46.jpg)
|
![](thunderbolt/thunderbolt_gods/images/img_47.jpg)
The intersecting canyons
and trenches of the Martian Noctis
Labyrinthus suggest that vast quantities of material were removed by
means unknown to geologists. |
As Wal showed slides of planetary surfaces, relating various
features to the effects of electrical discharge, Dave posed the
question: could Valles Marineris be the scar left by an
interplanetary thunderbolt? Wal replied, "It couldn’t be anything
else." Internal geology cannot produce the effects of a cosmic
lightning bolt. The steep, scalloped walls of the canyon and the
central ridges are typical of plasma machining. The short-branched
side gullies often terminate in circular alcoves and are left
hanging with no debris apron in the main channel. They tend to join
at right angles. Smaller channels and crater chains run parallel to
the main channels. Wal concluded:
"Valles Marineris was created
within minutes by a giant electric arc sweeping across the surface
of Mars. The rock and soil were lifted into space. Some of it fell
back around the planet to create the great, strewn fields of
boulders seen by both Viking Landers and Pathfinder."
Taking a cue from myths, we envision a discharge current impinging
on Mars. As the current increased, the plasma in the separate
channels of the discharge migrated both into the center and radially
away. It cut and shattered the rocky surface, removing material
ranging in size from microscopic dust to cubic-mile asteroids,
lifting it away from the surface. Much of the debris from the center
of the resulting chasm was hurled into space, while toward the
edges, the debris fell around the planet. As the forces diminished
at the ends of the main plasma current, the discharge spread out and
began to spiral counterclockwise.
To the west, toward the termination point of the discharge, the more
diffuse secondary arcs etched the surface into giant squarish
blocks.
Did an interplanetary lightning bolt carve out the gash on Mars’
surface and provoke the "Scarface" theme in world mythology? If so,
the event occurred within human memory, perhaps only a few thousand
years ago.
Such questions need not linger forever. Recent space probes have
revealed the surface of Mars in unprecedented detail.
It is not the planet that science expected. It is littered with
rocky debris. The surface is gouged and sculpted and etched in ways
that defy all traditional geology. It is layered with strata miles
deep where no layering was expected, and it is cut by great trenches
where neither flowing liquid nor surface spreading is evident. In
innumerable instances surface material has been scooped away, often
in neatly cut patterns that are larger scale duplications of
electrical discharge machining patterns. Our space probes have
returned only surprises from Mars, unraveling one hypothesis after
another. The one choice left is to reconsider theoretical
assumptions. (See Chapter XI.)
Interdisciplinary Synthesis
If Valles Marinaris is the far-famed "scar" displayed by the mythic
warrior-god, then Mars has not always moved on its present path, and
forces yet to be considered by astronomers and geologists will be
essential to the new models.
In the present inquiry science and historical testimony converge,
and this convergence will require a radical reconsideration of each
in the light of the other. Laboratory experiments not only offer a
new perspective on the physical universe, they connect the physical
sciences to a formative phase in the evolution of human
consciousness. This convergence dissolves the specialized
boundaries, opening lines of communication and correspondence
between disciplines that have long evolved in isolation. The
physical sciences, on the one hand, and the study of archaic human
memories on the other, are brought into alignment by questioning the
assumptions that have affected both. And this intellectual expansion
can only increase as other mysteries are subjected to the same
interdisciplinary dialogue.
The revelations of plasma physics must be studied alongside ancient
memories of the cosmic thunderbolt. Laboratory experiments and
simulations are now finding a place next to prehistoric rock art.
Ancient tales of prodigious gods battling in the sky can be compared
with the massive scars on planets and moons now revealed by space
probes. And recent telescopic images showing new worlds in deep
space can be considered on the same page with the testimony from
ancient astronomers, who describe similar formations in their own
sky.
Our hope is that doors will open to more holistic approaches within
the sciences, encouraging even specialists, confident in their
long-held assumptions, to wonder again about our universe, the
evolution of Earth, and the influence of cosmic events on human
history.
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