Cataclysm!: Compelling Evidence of a Cosmic Catastrophe in 9500 B.C. [Paperback]

D. S. Allan (Author), J. B. Delair (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1997

A breakthrough of enormous proportions, this multidisciplinary study examines evidence of a great catastrophe that occurred 11,500 years ago. 

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Allan and Delair do a brilliant job in revealing that researchers have barely touched the tip of the iceberg of events that shook the Earth around 9,577 B.C. . . . This book is an essential handbook to our ancient past: a brave multi-disciplinary approach that should be applauded."
(

Rand Flem-Ath, coauthor, When the Sky Fell

)

From the Back Cover

ASTRONOMY / GEOLOGY

CATACLYSM!

Cataclysm! presents a breakthrough of enormous proportions--a new understanding of cosmic events in Earth's recent geological past.

Follow this multi-disciplinary, scientific study as it examines the evidence of a great global catastrophe that occurred only 11,500 years ago. Crustal shifting, the tilting of Earth's axis, mass extinctions, upthrusted mountain ranges, rising and shrinking land masses, and gigantic volcanic eruptions and earthquakes--all indicate that a fateful confrontation with a destructive cosmic visitor must have occurred. The abundant geological, biological, and climatological evidence from this dire event calls into question many geological theories and will awaken our memories to our true--and not-so-distant--past.

“In not only the scholarship of paleontology but the paleontology of scholarship, this is the sort of book which someday we will realize to be--like the record of a great extinction--the marker at the end of one era and the threshold of another. It is monumental work, which no enlightened library of the coming paradigm shift will be without.”
--Douglas Kenyon, Atlantis Rising magazine

“Allan and Delair do a brilliant job in revealing that researchers have barely touched the tip of the iceberg of events that shook the Earth around 9,577 B.C. . . . This book is an essential handbook to our ancient past: a brave multi-disciplinary approach that should be applauded.”
--Rand Flem-Ath, coauthor, When the Sky Fell


D.S. ALLAN, a Cambridge M.A., is a science historian specializing in paleogeography, particularly in the Arctic regions. A science teacher for many years, he is a skilled cartographer and has made a special study of evidence for climatic and landform change in recent geological times. He lives in Basildon, Essex, England. J.B. DELAIR, B.Sc., is an Oxford-based geologist with wide international and commercial field experience. An anthropologist, he has a special interest in animal and plant distribution and in tribal traditions. He is the Museum Curator of Geology at University of Southampton, England.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Bear & Company (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879181428
• ISBN-13: 978-1879181427
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,601 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, well-documented, ground-breaking book, October 18, 1997

By 

Sherilyn K. Nakken "RN, MA, Hahnemannian Home... (Olympic Peninsula, Washington State) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cataclysm!: Compelling Evidence of a Cosmic Catastrophe in 9500 B.C. (Paperback)

Previously titled - When the Earth Nearly Died & republished by Bear & Co. under this title. This is an excellent, well-documented book that basically disproves the ice age as it has been believed in the last 200 years. Methodically explores mythology, biology, geology, botony, astronomy and so much more to show there is no scientific proof for a long ice age or series of ice ages and that most of what is blamed on an ice-age and moving glaciers is in error. Shows the probable explanation is that an extraordinary event occured involving some type of body entering our solar system and effecting each planet and ultimately the earth causing major axis shifts, global earthquakes, land upheavals, hurricanes, floods, tidal waves, fires, and so on. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in earth mysteries, sacred sites, mythology, geology and more.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He who laughs last, laughs best!, June 23, 2007

By 

Fred Mrozek (German Valley, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cataclysm!: Compelling Evidence of a Cosmic Catastrophe in 9500 B.C. (Paperback)

Some comments about this book:

1.) A book with an odd or even incorrect theory can be of enormous utility if it illustrates, documents and footnotes a large number of scientific anomalies. Aside from the many books of William Corliss, this book must be near the top of the heap in that category. You can enjoy this book and even cherish it without accepting the specific theory that the book proposes as an explanation of all the anomalies it reports.

2.) The book proposes a cosmic cataclysm about 11,500 BC. In order to get a wonderful primer on how these authors may indeed have the "best and last laugh" even regarding the essential correctness of their theory..., use Google to find a set of videos on YouTube with these search terms: Comet Catastrophe 12,500 BP (before present). There are seven video segments with almost an hour of material from a recent, (May 2007) meeting of professional geologists (the American Geophysical Union meeting). Watch these video segments, and then buy a copy of Cataclysm! Then also buy the Book by Richard Firestone. If you buy and read both of these books, I think you will agree that some of the reviewers who have slammed Cataclysm may find themselves changing their minds. Yes there were ice ages, but there were also sudden extreme events - such as the one that brought on the so-called Younger Dryas, a 1200 year cold spell before the end of the last ice age.

3.) In the 4th segment of YouTube video: Comet Catastrophe, note that one of the scientists answers a question from the audience about whether there were any North American Indian legends that might contain recollections of the event. His answer is yes. And if you buy Cataclysm!, you will be able to read alot of excerpts of such stories. And if those excerpts intrigue you (as they did me), the copious footnotes will help you find the original source materials.

What other books should you buy if you find that you like this one? Buy all the books by Irish Dendrochronologist Mike Baillie and his co-authors. These books will introduce you to how long tree-ring chronologies are telling us about several abrupt, global climate disasters in the past 5000 years that may have been caused by impacts or interactions with comets. Buy a used, hardcover copy of Ragnarok by Ignatius Donnelly, wherein you can read a wonderful summary of evidences from human mythologies that led Donnelly to opine (in 1880 !!!) that Earth has been hit by a comet at least once during the tenure and written memory of mankind. (Donnelly was so far ahead of his time, that he is still ahead of ours...) And then familiarize yourself with the wonderful body of work on the K/T boundary through a tome like GSA Special Publication 356 or something like it. The reason for the latter is because Firestone and his colleagues are going to precipitate the same type of revolution in paleontology that Alvarez and his co-workers wrought in the 1980's by hypothesizing and then proving that Earth was struck by a speeding asteroid. Alot of the evidence for the Younger Dryas event is similar, and some of the same investigators who found critical chemical clues in the K/T boundary layers are doing so again in the end-Clovis "black mat." Also, I recommend all the books by Clube, Napier and Bailey - most especially Cosmic Winter, Cosmic Serpent and the Origin of Comets.

Lastly, keep your eyes open for a Discovery Channel special with a similar title: Comet Catastrophe. This special, which has apparently already aired in Canada, will feature Dr. Dallas Abbott and a colleague Dee Breger in program that will discuss powerful evidence of an Indian Ocean impact about 5000 years ago that left an 18 mile crater under 2.5 miles of water, and a 1/4 mile thick tsunami deposit 45 kilometers across on the southern shores of Madagascar.

So what does all this mean? It means that the surface of the Earth is a more dangerous place than most astronomers (especially on this side of the Atlantic) think. It means that there have been significant impact events at least once and perhaps dozens of times during the written memory of men on the Earth. It means that it would be really smart for us to pay attention to all these scientific developments and to respond in thoughtful ways to the warning being delivered by living voices, and also the warnings delivered to us in many myths and legends.

31 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book I have seen on the subject, February 15, 2005

By 

Mark H. Gaffney (Chiloquin, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cataclysm!: Compelling Evidence of a Cosmic Catastrophe in 9500 B.C. (Paperback)

I am very interested in earth's past and the untold history of our species. And this book surpasses everything I have seen to date. It's erudite, and comprehensive. The author's break new ground in many areas.

I can't relate to the debunker's claim of pseudo science. That's become the mantra of dogmatists, of late, those who prefer not to look at the anomalous data. The flowers found in the mouths of the frozen Siberian mammoths and mastodons and other evidence of flora adapted to a temperate climate rules out the possibility that some of the carcasses date to 30-45,000 years. No, 11,500 years BP must be the actual date. The idea they were frozen mummies does not compute with the anecdotal reports that the flesh was fresh enough for humans and dogs to eat. The debunker has attempted to trivialize this extremely important evidence. Also, the debunker fails to understand the distinction between precession and the earth's 23 degree tilt. The two are separate characteristics.

But back to the authors: one of their biggest contributions is their provocative suggestion that the earth's axis was more vertical to the ecliptic (the plane of the orbiting planets in the solar system)prior to the cataclysm. They suggest the earth gained its 23 1/2 degree tilt in the encounter with Marduk (Phaeton). This could explain how the polar regions were more temperate before, because a vertical earth (they assert) would have a smaller polar cap. We will have to wait and see if this turns out to be correct.

I especially loved the way the authors compare and relate the geological record with the record of the great literary epics, the Edda, the Kalevala, the Avesta, Vedas, Bible, etc. Their understanding of the classics is phenomenal -- and asute. I learned a great deal and will rely on their interpretations in the future.

I do have several critical comments. I was disapointed that the authors never discussed Charles Hapgood's contribution regarding the shifting of earth's crust. They mention this as one of the effects of an encounter with Marduk, but no not include adequate discussion. A crustal shift would of course explain why the orientation of the pyramids and ancient sites of meso America are aligned east of north -- a fact no one has ever explained. Obviously, these sites are older than N-S aligned Giza and thus are human testaments that the crust really did move.

The authors are in my opinion wrong that all of earth's mountain ranges were low hills before the Phaeton disaster. If this were true, how to explain the alpine flora: wild flowers, liverworts, grasses, mosses and lichens? I agree that much mountain building occurred at this time, but not all.

Nor do the authors ever finally succeed in explaining the Greenland ice sheet. It remains a mystery.

The author's astutely conclude that a comet could not have caused the Phaeton disaster, because a cube of ice does not have the necessary mass to cause the gravity induced effects. However, Allan and Delair are unaware of scientist Jim McCanney's Plasma Discharge Comert Model, which is in process of revolutionizing our understanding of comets. If McCanney is correct, comets are not dirty snowballs, but are asteroidal and can be extremely large. We will know more next summmer when NASA's Deep Impact space probe causes a collision with the comet Tempel 1 -- an attempt to confirm the ice model. When NASA fails to find the ice, it will be time to junk the current model. No doubt about it, Phaeton was a comet!

Despite these criticisms, I heartily recommend this book. We have barely begun to understand the mind boggling power and wonder of the cosmos...