The Man Who Rocked the Earth | Page 7

earth's axis in space and the
duration of the period of the rotation, that it is impossible to predict at the present time
the ultimate changes or modifications in the climatic conditions which may follow. This
commission has considered most carefully the possible causes that may have been
responsible for this catastrophe--(Weltunfall)--and by eliminating every hypothesis that
was incapable of explaining all of the various disturbances, is now in a position to present
two theories, either one of which appears to be capable of explaining the recent
disturbances.
The phenomena in question may be briefly summarized as follows;
1. THE YELLOW AURORA. In Northern Europe this appeared suddenly on the night of
July 22d as a broad, faint sheaf--(Lichtbündel)--of clear yellow light in the western sky.
Reports from America show that at Washington it appeared in the north as a narrow shaft
of light, inclined at an angle of about thirty degrees with the horizon, and shooting off to
the east. Near the horizon it was extremely brilliant, and the spectroscope showed that the
light was due to glowing helium gas.
The Potsdam Observatory reported that the presence of sodium has been detected in the
aurora; but this appears to have been a mistake due to the faintness of the light and the
circumstance that no comparison spectrum was impressed on the plate. On the
photograph made at the Washington Observatory the helium line is certain, as a second
exposure was made with a sodium flame; and the two lines are shown distinctly
separated.
2. THE NEGATIVE ACCELERATION. This phenomenon was observed to a greater or
less extent all over the globe. It was especially marked near the equator; but in Northern
Europe it was noted by only a few observers, though many clocks were stopped and other
instruments deranged. There appears to be no doubt that a force of terrific magnitude was
applied in a tangential direction to the surface of the earth, in such a direction as to
oppose its axial rotation, with the effect that the surface velocity was diminished by about
one part in three hundred, resulting in a lengthening of the day by five minutes, thirteen
and a half seconds.
The application of this brake--(Bremsekraft), as we may term it--caused acceleration
phenomena to manifest themselves precisely as on a railroad train when being brought to
a stop. The change in the surface speed of the earth at the equator has amounted to about
6.4 kilometres an hour; and various observations show that this change of velocity was
brought about by the operation of the unknown force for a period of time of less than
three minutes. The negative acceleration thus represented would certainly be too small to
produce any marked physiological sensations, and yet the reports from various places
indicate that they were certainly observed. The sensations felt are usually described as
similar to those experienced in a moving automobile when the brake is very gently
applied.

Moreover, certain destructive actions are reported from localities near the
equator--chimneys fell and tall buildings swayed; while from New York comes the report
that the obelisk in Central Park was thrown from its pedestal. It appears that these effects
were due to the circumstance that the alteration of velocity was propagated through the
earth as a wave similar to an earthquake wave, and that the effects were cumulative at
certain points--a theory that is substantiated by reports that at certain localities, even near
the equator, no effects were noted.
3. TIDAL WAVES. These were observed everywhere and were very destructive in many
places. In the Panama Canal, which is near the equator and which runs nearly east and
west, the sweep of the water was so great that it flowed over the Gatun Lock. On the
eastern coasts of the various continents there was a recession of the sea, the fall of the
tide being from three to five metres below the low-water mark. On the western coasts
there was a corresponding rise, which in some cases reached a level of over twelve
metres.
That the tidal phenomena were not more marked and more destructive is a matter of great
surprise, and has been considered as evidence that the retarding force was not applied at a
single spot on the earth's surface, but was a distributed force, which acted on the water as
well as on the land, though to a less extent. It is difficult, however, to conceive of a force
capable of acting in such a way; and Björnson's theory of the magnetic vortex in the ether
has been rejected by this commission.
4. ATMOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES. Some time after the appearance of the yellow
aurora a sudden rise in atmospheric pressure, followed by a gradual fall considerably
below the normal pressure, was recorded over the entire surface