Asking the audience, is this a bad idea?

Darkest

Banned
I'm not going to plug in the timeline I'm working on, but I am eight years into it, and the POD is a political one (Joseph Smith doesn't endorse the Kirtland Safety Society and the Kirtland Bank).

However, in this timeline, I really want to increase the level of spirituality in America, along with the successful growth of 'wilderness experimental utopias' that were frequent in the mid-1800s.

I was thinking that maybe I could have a very bright shooting star appear above the Millerites' congregation while they waited for the coming of Christ in October 1844. The shooting star could be considered 'a sign' of some sort, prompting perhaps butterflies that lead the Seventh-Day Adventists to the west, where I hope Deseret will become a sprawling kingdom of many fanatical religions.

Now, is it WAY too ASB to make a shooting star appear in the sky? Would I lose all legitimacy? Creating a shooting star is not a butterfly... that's a new POD! And an ASB one at that.

Would people want to read my timeline if I 'blew it' like that?
 

Straha

Banned
Just post it and tell the people who are nitpickers to go fuck themselves with a spiked dildo.
 

Blochead

Go for it... You can have a POD billions of years ago. I doubt it will make a huge amount of difference if it occurs in the vaccuum of space thousands of AUs away.
 

Doctor What

Well--there was the Great Comet of 1844 that was discovered in December of that year. Rather bright comet by all accounts.

Having a freakishly bright comet appear just a year after another freaky bright comet appeared in March of 1843 will definitely get a lot of people's attention. Have it appear two months early (rather easy to handwave that away) and voila!
 

sunsurf

The shooting star isn't that bad an idea--with less population in a given locale, any particular shooting star might have gone unnoticed. But one which is noticed during a religious service...a service which didn't happen in OTL...might seem more significant.

He could secretly fire off a rocket and tell people it was a shooting star, but that's cheating...unless he tells people about it...the fireworks might be part of the religious ceremony/celebration/whatever, and it's very inspiring.

Oh! I have a good one! There is a variable star, Eta Carinae.


In 1843, Eta Carinae had a "Great Eruption," when it brightened to outshine every star in Earth's night sky except for Sirius, reaching a maximum magnitude of -0.8 and was one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way Galaxy.


...and another site...



Just one problem. You have to be south of about 25 degrees latitude to see it.

There are other variable stars which might have suddenly become brighter during the period, and one of those could be pointed at, and somebody claims there's some significance to it.
 

Smaug

Its certainly no more ridiculous than a star that guides 3 wise men to a new born Messiah. Do what you want, swamp gas and weather balloon.....
 
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