Fireball Seen Over Nevada and California.

[N2NH]

The brilliant streak of light was spotted across a wide swath of the West from Reno to San Francisco before dawn on Jan. 17. The New York-based American Meteor Society received reports from about 50 people in California and Nevada who saw the bright light.Seti Institute scientist Peter Jenniskens tells the San Francisco Chronicle the flash of light was a small comet that flamed out when it hit the Earth's atmosphere.

They say no pieces fell to the ground, but the vapor could contain microbes. Some think that there was a good chance that the explosion at Tanguska was a comet that brought the "Spanish Influenza" pandemic in 1918-1920 that killed 20-50 Million. The aftereffects of that were felt well into the 20s. Time will tell.

Fireball across Skies in West was Flaming Comet

[NQ6U]

Some think that there was a good chance that the explosion at Tanguska was a comet that brought the "Spanish Influenza" pandemic in 1918-1920

Using weasel words like "Some think" is a logical fallacy. Please be specific: who thinks this?

[X-Rated]

Early on in computers, I had a Maxtor Fireball. It was a POS. I sent it flying myself.

[N2NH]

Using weasel words like "Some say" is a logical fallacy. Please be specific: who says this?

3. DISEASES FROM SPACE?
Hoyle, Wickramasinghe, Napier and others (Hoyle and Wickramasinghe 2000, Napier and Wickramasinghe 2010; Wickramasinghe 2010; Wickramasinghe et al., 2009) have provided considerable evidence indicating microbial life can flourish within the heart of comets and may be deposited on other planets including Earth. Wainwright et al., (2010), based on evidence of bacteria in the upper atmosphere and stratosphere, argue that life may be continually incoming from space and outgoing from Earth. Joseph (2009b; Joseph and Schild 2010) has developed a detailed model explaining how microbes can be lofted into the stratosphere and periodically ejected into space during particularly powerful solar storms. Joseph (2009b; Joseph and Schild 2010) has also provided and reviewed evidence that microbes can travel from planet to planet and solar system to solar system encased in asteroids, comets and other stellar debris, and that they can survive the impact and heat of ejection and reentry into the atmosphere. Therefore, there is good reason to suspect that a stellar object striking and skimming along the upper atmosphere could eject microbes into the atmosphere of Earth and become contaminated with microbes already present at these heights.
Joseph (2000, 2009c; Joseph and Schild 2010) has developed a detailed genetic model of cosmic evolution, and has argued that as microbes and viruses are transferred from planet to planet, they exchange and acquire DNA. According to Joseph (2000, 2009c) these genes were then transferred to to the eukaryotic genome, contributing to the evolution of multi-cellular life leading to humans. Likewise, Wainwright et al., (2010) propose that incoming and outgoing microbes may exchange DNA via horizontal gene transfer, and this genetic exchange contributes to the evolution of life on Earth.
Wickramasinghe (2010) also believes that space-traveling microbes and viruses contribute to evolution, but are also responsible for "errors" introduced into the genome. These "errors" result in disease, disability, and death. Hoyle and Wickramasinghe (1979, 1986) have referred to this as "diseases from space."
Is there any evidence that microbes and viruses were deposited on Earth by the TSB or following the Tunguska impact in 1908? The evidence is indirect at best, i.e. the 1918 flu epidemic which killed over 20 million people world wide (Joseph 2009a). It is unknown if the TSB is comet Encke. However, Comet Encke made an extremely close approaches to Earth on June 16, 1908, and again on October 27 1914, and was at perihelion on 1918. And with each approach, Comet Encke shed ice, rock and dust which streaked through the atmosphere of Earth.
According to Hoyle and Wickramasinghe (1979, 1986, 2000; Wickramasinghe 2010; Wickramasinghe et al., 2009) under these circumstances microbes and viruses would be shed from the comet and would be deposited on Earth and could induce disease. Wainwright et al., (2010) argue that microbes from space would exchange DNA with microbes of Earth, and the same has been said of viruses (Joseph and Schild 2010). There is also considerable evidence that the 1918 flu epidemic was due to gene mixing between an already established virus and a completely unknown "new" virus (Joseph 2009a).
As detailed by Joseph (2009a):
"In 2005, scientists from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C., resurrected the 1918 virus from bodies that had been preserved in the permanently frozen soil of Alaska. They soon discovered that a completely new virus had combined with a old virus, exchanging and recombining genes, creating a hybrid that transformed mild strains of the flu virus into forms far more deadly and pathogenic. They also confirmed that the 1918 Spanish flu virus originated in the sky, first infecting birds and then spreading and proliferating in humans."

Link

According to the late Sir Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe of the University of Wales at Cardiff, viruses can be distributed throughout space by dust in the debris stream of comets. Then as Earth passes though the stream, the dust and viruses load our atmosphere, where they can stay suspended for years until gravity pulls them down. They compare numerous plagues throughout our history which coincide with cometary bodies in our skies. These researchers are certain that germs causing plagues and epidemics come from space.

New Light on the Black Death: The Viral and Cosmic Connection: By Gabriela Segura, MD

Some Say

[KC2UGV]

Using weasel words like "Some think" is a logical fallacy. Please be specific: who thinks this?

Been editing Wikipedia lately, eh?

[N8YX]

The outer-space vector of major disease outbreaks cannot be dismissed if one believes in the overall concept of panspermia.

That being said, I had a very bad experience with IBM DeskStar hard drives in the'99-'02 time frame. We're talking premature failure rates in excess of 90%.

[KC9SQR]

Early on in computers, I had a Maxtor Fireball. It was a POS. I sent it flying myself.

I'm not trying to derail this thread, but... It's been my experience that every Maxtor drive I've ever come across is garbage, so I'd have to agree that it was most likely a POS...

Mostly just good for target practice ;)
In fact I think I have a few here that need a few 7.62's sent through them...
I may see what a slug does to one this time lol

I'm kinda partial to Western Digital personally...

[N2NH]

If a comet passes close by or if a Tanguska type event happens, what would be the dispersal range of the water vapors (which would harbor life)?

The mysterious 1908 Tunguska explosion that leveled 830 square miles of Siberian forest was almost certainly caused by a comet entering the Earth's atmosphere, says new Cornell University research. The conclusion is supported by an unlikely source: the exhaust plume from the NASA space shuttle launched a century later.

The space shuttle exhaust plume, the researchers say, resembled the comet's action.
A single space shuttle flight injects 300 metric tons of water vapor into the Earth's thermosphere, and the water particles have been found to travel to the Arctic and Antarctic regions, where they form the clouds after settling into the mesosphere.

Kelley and collaborators saw the noctilucent cloud phenomenon days after the space shuttle Endeavour (STS-118) launched on Aug. 8, 2007. Similar cloud formations had been observed following launches in 1997 and 2003.
Following the 1908 explosion, known as the Tunguska Event, the night skies shone brightly for several days across Europe, particularly Great Britain -- more than 3,000 miles away.

The article affirms that the 1908 Tanguska Event was a collision between a comet and the Earth. The dispersal rate was global.

LINK 1

[X-Rated]

That sounds like it would have been bright enough to tan anyone's guska.

[KC2UGV]

If a comet passes close by or if a Tanguska type event happens, what would be the dispersal range of the water vapors (which could harbor life)?

Fixed.