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One of the most difficult challenges facing independent researchers is the
"peer review" system of scientific and educational institutions and media.
Too often the words mean, "reviewed by peers who agree with us." But a lot
has changed in recent years. The Internet now offers the best opportunity
for reaching open minded explorers in the sciences and other fields of
inquiry. We therefore ask for your help in circulating the announcement
below. We are eager to stimulate discussion of the hypotheses presented
here, and ask that responses and further suggestions for scholarly and
scientific liaison be forwarded to:  [1]michael at kronia.com

THUNDERBOLTS OF THE GODS, by David Talbott and Wallace Thornhill, is the
first in a series of volumes presenting a convergence of ancient
testimony, high energy plasma laboratory experiments, and space age
discoveries. The authors contend that large scale electrical phenomena led
to a series of global catastrophes in ancient times. These electrical
events, though similar in principle to the aurora borealis today, were
intensely energetic and often punctuated by devastating instabilities.

The authors do not place these celestial dramas in a geologically remote
epoch. They claim that earthshaking upheaval occurred so recently as to
have profoundly affected early human cultures. And they contend that the
myths and religions of all ancient peoples memorialized these events.

The study of plasma discharge is a new and exciting development in space
age astronomy. Talbott and Thornhill show particular interest in these
developments because they see space plasma as a bridge between the ancient
and modern worlds. To advance their case, they present side-by-side
comparisons of laboratory plasma experiments and globally recurring
symbols of the ancient sky. The evidence, they report, shows an ancient
obsession with extremely violent electrical discharge formations in the
heavens.

At the core of this reconstruction is the unique behavior of plasma. This
"fourth state of matter" has been studied for less than a hundred years,
and only in the recent decades of the space age have astronomers begun to
realize its importance to the understanding of structure in space.  
Astronomical objects ranging from supernovas and intergalactic filaments
to interstellar banks of excited gasses and all of the stars in the
heavens are now known to be constituted of plasma--a conductive medium
which also permeates the near-vacuum of space. Celestial objects move in
and through cells of plasma.

Because the plasma state is defined by the presence of charged particles,
electrical and magnetic forces often dominate gravitational forces. Many
structures now revealed in space, while defying gravitational equations,
are predictable under the laws of plasma behavior observed in the
laboratory. From these discoveries, a new approach to the understanding of
the physical universe is emerging. This approach is called plasma
cosmology.

Through unimaginable labors, millions of our ancestors carved unexplained
pictures on stone, numbering in the tens of millions. But what inspired
this massive endeavor around the world? The laboratory experiments make
clear that the ancient artists were copying spectacular electrical
phenomena in the heavens. Indeed, the global correspondence between
laboratory discharge configurations and the pictographs on stone is so
detailed that same-scale images from the laboratory and from
archaeological investigation can be overlaid with astonishing precision.

By systematically comparing these images to the most prominent
mythological themes, the authors reach a revolutionary conclusion.  In
ancient times, electrical activity produced gigantic and violently
metamorphosing formations above the ancient witnesses. According to
Talbott and Thornhill, these terrifying apparitions were the true source
of the enigmatic celestial serpents, dragons, cosmic mountains,
long-tongued demons, and metamorphosing gods, goddesses, and heroes of the
ancient world.

Perhaps the authors' most radical tenet is the role of the Solar System's
planets in these events. For they contend that at least some of the
planets moved on different orbits than observed today, appearing as giant
spheres extremely close to Earth and anciently celebrated as towering
gods. Thus, the demonstrable power of the electric force to override the
weak force of gravity is vital to their hypothesis.  From this new vantage
point, the pervasive ancient reverence and fear directed toward planets
and toward comets as harbingers of destruction finds a new interpretation
-- a gauntlet thrown down to challenge the stable and predictable solar
system of modern theory.

For more than three decades, Talbott and Thornhill have each been major
contributors to the study of catastrophe in ancient times. Talbott was
publisher of Pensée magazine's "Immanuel Velikovsky Reconsidered" series
in the early seventies, which provoked a surge of international interest
in the questions raised by Velikovsky. Talbott then offered his own
reconstruction of the past in THE SATURN MYTH (Doubleday, 1980). His
hypothesis was also depicted in the 1996 documentary, "Remembering the End
of the World."

Thornhill has delivered numerous presentations on the "electric universe"
at symposia and workshops in the United States and abroad. His CD, "The
Electric Universe," was published in 1998. His website at
www.holoscience.com, with its challenge to theoretical assumptions in
astronomy and archaeology, has gained increasing popularity.

The authors are now completing a full color layout of volume one,
supplemented by substantial portions of two later volumes. With this
material in hand, they will begin publishing a series of full color
monographs in early summer 2004, representing complementary portions of
the three volumes - a comprehensive analysis of global mythology, ancient
rock art, and religious symbolism in the light of scientific discovery.
THUNDERBOLTS is the first complete work on the subject available to
general readers, though the scientific evidence is now finding its way
into specialized journals. Each monograph will be accompanied by a
30-minute DVD with interviews, animations and photographic analysis
designed to give a broad overview of the subject.

Please take a moment to view the introduction and Chapter One

[2]http://www.thunderbolts.info

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO APPROPRIATE PERSONS AND GROUPS WITHIN
YOUR OWN CIRCLE.

References

1. mailto:michael at kronia.com
2. http://www.thunderbolts.info/