Thread by @MarkBoslough

My threads on Sodom airburst paper in Nature's
@scireports have led to feedback & to new Twitter friends. Thanks for your comments! For those who arrived after my first post on Monday, here’s a link to the beginning. #TallElHammam #TEHburst #YDBS

https://twitter.com/MarkBoslough/status/1440097126856282113?s=20

@SciReports The vast majority of comments by archeologists, physicists, geologists, astronomers, & impact experts have been positive. I'm hoping to hear from coauthors of the #TEHburst paper. Maybe none are on twitter or don’t feel the need to answer q's from scientists about their paper.

Several coauthors of the #TEHburst paper list their affiliation as “Comet Research Group”. Check out their website. Of the 21 #TEHburst coauthors, 16 are members of the Comet Research Group. cometresearchgroup.org/scientists-mem…

All five directors of the Comet Research Group are #TEHburst coauthors. 7 of the 9 cofounders of the Comet Research Group are coauthors. The CRG website lists 63 Comet Research Group members. 38 of them have a “member type” of “Author, supporting paper”. cometresearchgroup.org/scientists-mem…

What is a “supporting paper”? It appears to be one that is listed below & that they categorize as having a position as “supports impact." It's not clear if this means they support any impact or if it means they specifically support the #YDBS hypothesis. cometresearchgroup.org/publications/

They listed a PNAS paper by Petaev et al. (2013) who reported a Pt anomaly at or near the YDB in Greenland as “supports impact." But Petaev et al. (2013) made it clear (in the abstract & elsewhere) that their finding does not support the #YDBS hypothesis. pnas.org/content/110/32…

“Such a source could have been a highly differentiated object like an Ir-poor iron meteorite that is unlikely to result in an airburst or trigger wide wildfires proposed by the YDB impact hypothesis.” This is an explicit rejection of the #YDBS hypothesis by Petaev et al. (2013).

Curiously, they failed to list my own publication that suggests there was an impact at or near the Younger Dryas Boundary, presumably because it contradicts their #YDBS hypothesis on the unrealistic size and unphysical effects of the impact. pnas.org/content/110/52…

Well, I sure didn't expect a bunch of longhorns to show up in the preview of that link! Maybe twitter is suggesting I should be watching football instead of tweeting (current score, Q2: Texas Longhorns 14, Texas Tech Red Raiders 7). OK back to the thread.

Michail Petaev & I agree that there was an impact of an iron-rich object at or near the YD onset. We also agree that it did not result in an airburst or trigger wildfires, a key element of the #YDBS. Our only point of disagreement is on how big it was.

I asked Prof. Petaev why he was a member of the Comet Research Group given that he rejects the #YDBS hypothesis. He was unaware that he was. He never asked to be a member. The leaders of the group never informed him that he was a member or got his consent.

This week I heard from 2 other scientists who on the CRG member list. They also reject the premise & conclusions of the #TEHburst paper. As impact & airburst experts, they’re as skeptical as I am. They agree with me that claims of shocked quartz at #TallElHamam are false.

I suspect more scientists who reject #YDBS are also listed under the heading “The Comet Research Group, Inc. cooperates with and provides funding for selected impact research scientists around the world. Below are some of the supporters of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis”

The CRG appears to have been founded to raise money for #YDBS research, but has shifted its fundraising focus to #BiblicalArchaeology, specifically to prove that #TallElHammam was biblical Sodom & that God uses asteroids as weapons to smite the wicked. cometresearchgroup.org/blog/

From now on, when I use the term “TeamComet” I am not referring to anyone who has been added to the CRG list without their knowledge or consent. “Team Comet” refers to the authors of the papers that are central to the #YDBS, and now, #TEHburst.

I'm ready to knock off for the weekend unless there is a new development. Before I step away, I'll post a list of relevant TV documentaries for your watching pleasure.

Here's a link to my next thread, with a list of video recommendations for background to help you judge the merit of the #TEHburst and #YDBS hypotheses.

https://twitter.com/MarkBoslough/status/1441827787480829958?s=20