Evidence, Great Lakes Great Fires Meteorite -- new meteorite find links Great Fires of 1871 with meteor storm

So how do we know that Comet Biela was destroyed by collisions with asteroids? And how does this shed new light on the Great Fires mystery (of 1871)?
The first (and most startling) piece of evidence is the recent discovery of a 26.5 kilogram carbonaceous chondrite meteorite on the shores of Lake Huron -- "ground zero" of the astral bombardment. (Incidentally, this meteorite is of the same composition as that of the Tunguska Impact in Siberia -- 1908.) The Thumb area of Michigan suffered the worst of Michigan's fires in 1871 and 1881 ( again pointing to the cyclic period of the remains of the Biela-asteroid collisions). The second piece of evidence is the cone-shaped fire pattern from the shores of Lake Huron to a line running North to South -- from Peshtigo to Chicago. This is identical to the ballistic pattern of a shotgun cluster of pellets, suggesting an asteroid cluster of hundreds or thousands of pieces. The main point of impact was the Lake Huron shores (Michigan Thumb) region, and spreading out in a perfect "V" pattern over all of Michigan, and finally expending their last trajectory energy over Chicago (Illinois) up to Peshtigo (Wisconsin). Incidentally, there were no fires west of this north-south line!
Diagram 1	Cluster broke up over Lake Huron. Larger pieces fell in the Thumb area of Michigan, causing the worst fire. Smaller, lighter pieces continued to fan out over Michigan, across Lake Michigan, losing their energy just beyond the western shore of Lake Michigan. Hundreds to thousands of asteroid debris started the fires.
The fact that all fires (Chicago, Peshtigo, Michigan) started simultaneously is not just a coincidence. The third and final evidence is that of the comet itself. Years before the fire, the comet had split into two nuclei; one cycle before the Great Fires, the comet was seen for its last time. During the firestorms, eye witnesses claimed that fires were falling from the sky. During the 1872 Biela cycle the comet was gone -- only meteor debris was seen, at the rate of 15,000 strikes per hour. Like billiard balls preceding the cue ball into the pocket, an asteroid storm preceded the remains of Biela a full year before its expected return! New discoveries of asteroids orbiting around the sun between the Earth and Mars are clear evidence of the Biela impact.
Diagram 1	Asteroids were moved from their usual orbit (between Mars and Jupiter) into a new solar orbit between Earth and Mars.
One last thought -- the Chicago fire department of 1871 was well-trained and able to handle one fire from one cow. They could not cope with numerous fires simultaneously igniting all over the city!
Email Ken Rieli: krieli@up.net

New Evidence