One century ago, something exploded over Siberia. It happened on June 30th of 1908, and

I need you to adjust your expectations. When I say exploded, you probably imagine a stick

of dynamite, or maybe a bunch of them, but this one was different. First, this explosion

didn't happen on the ground. It happened in the air over the Tunguska River, perhaps

three to six miles above the surface of the earth. And second, the explosion is estimated

to have been at least 1000 times greater than the single atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima

in 1945, over 15 megatons, and the effects were devastating.

Just to 800 square miles of forest were flattened, like an enormous hand had brushed across

the trees and laid them all down. An earthquake shook the region, and if the Richter scale

had existed at the time, some scientists estimate that it would have clocked in at around

5.0. Had it happened over a major city, the damage would have been catastrophic.

Even today, over a century after it happened, no one fully knows what it was. Yes, there

are some really good theories, but thanks to how remote the event's location was and

the available tools at the time, there is a good chance we won't ever know the full

truth. However frustrating that might be. Everyone loves a good mystery though. For

those who enjoy all things historical, there are unsolved cases like the lost colony of

Roanoke or the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Some mysteries involve hidden treasure, like

the beelpapers or the secrets, while others ponder the truth behind larger events, like

what really happened in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947.

A lot of the time, these mysteries go unsolved, and that's part of the real attraction about

them. It's not the characters or the specific details of the legend that we love so much.

It's the hunt, the chase, the connecting of the dots that might lead us from where we

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