Chapter IV

Free translation of the Official Report of the Imperial Commission of the Berlin Academy of Science to the Imperial Commissioners of the German Federated States:

The unprecedented cosmic phenomena which occurred on the 22d and
27th days of the month of July, and which were felt over the entire
surface of the globe, have left a permanent effect of such
magnitude on the position of the 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 of the globe. Calculations based on
the time of arrival of this disturbance at widely separated points
show that it proceeded with the velocity of sound from a point
situated probably in Northern Labrador. The maximum rise of pressure
recorded was registered at Halifax, the self-recording barographs
showing that the pressure rose over six centimetres in less than
five minutes.

5. SHIFT IN DIRECTION OF THE EARTH'S AXIS. The axis of the
earth has been shifted in space by the disturbance and now points
almost exactly toward the double star Delta Ursæ Minoris. This
change appears to have resulted from the circumstance that the force
was applied to the surface of the globe in a direction not quite
parallel to the direction of rotation, the result being the
development of a new axis and a shift in the positions of the poles,
which it will now be necessary to rediscover.

It appears that these most remarkable cosmic phenomena can be
explained in either of two ways: they may have resulted from an
explosive or volcanic discharge from the surface of the earth, or
from the oblique impact of a meteoric stream moving at a very high
velocity. It seems unlikely that sufficient energy to bring about
the observed changes could have been developed by a volcanic
disturbance of the ordinary type; but if radioactive forces are
allowed to come into play the amount of energy available is
practically unlimited.

It is difficult, however, to conceive of any way in which a sudden
liberation of atomic energy could have been brought about by any
terrestrial agency; so that the first theory, though able to account
for the facts, seems to be the less tenable of the two. The meteoric
theory offers no especial difficulty. The energy delivered by a
comparatively small mass of finely divided matter, moving at a
velocity of several hundred kilometres a second--and such a velocity
is by no means unknown--would be amply sufficient to alter the
velocity of rotation by the small amount observed.

Moreover, the impact of such a meteoric stream may have
developed a temperature sufficiently high to bring about
radioactive changes, the effect of which would be to expel
helium and other disintegration products at cathode-ray
velocity--(_Kathoden-Strahlen-Fortpflanzung-Geschwindigkeit_)--from
the surface of the earth; and the recoil exerted by this expulsion
would add itself to the force of the meteoric impact.

The presence of helium makes this latter hypothesis not altogether
improbable, while the atmospheric wave of pressure would result at
once from the disruption of the air by the passage of the meteor
stream through it. Exploration of the region in which it seems
probable that the disturbance took place will undoubtedly furnish
the data necessary for the complete solution of the problem."
[Pp. 17-19.]