REACH FOR THE SKIES!
June, 1876: A brilliant streak of light illuminates the evening sky over the Western Atlantic and the American East Coast, drawing amazed looks from all. Then, to the north of the big industrial cities of Concord and Manchester, a brilliant flash of light illuminates the sky. Almost seven minutes later, a long, low rumbling is heard at the state house. Over the town of Franconia, a column of smoke rises, quickly spreading out into the mushroom cloud characteristic of a large explosion. Franconia was simply GONE; a vast piece of rock falling from the sky had obliterated it. Although no one at the time, had any idea how big an explosion it was, other than “Enormous,” later generations would estimate the blast as being the approximate equivalent of 7 million tons of black powder. (3.5 megatons in OTL’s terms. In this timeline, large blasts are measured in tons of black powder, that being the prevalent explosive of the era of the first scientifically measured “Big One”.)
Even as the echoes reverberated through the White Mountains, triggering landslides, shattering windows, and sending the Old Man of the Mountain tumbling from his precarious perch, they were also reaching Portsmouth, Boston, and even distant New York. In Boston, it was still loud enough to be noticed over the cacophony of steam whistles, clanging horsecars, and the overall hustle and bustle of New England’s biggest city.
The asteroid impact of 1876, which at first was responsible for the destruction of a popular tourist resort and caused widespread terror as word reached out by telegraph, soon had vastly greater repercussions.
2 days later, the first photographs of the devastation appeared in New England newspapers. Flattened buildings, a grand hotel simply reduced to matchsticks, trains blown off the tracks, great trees on the ground, all reminiscent of the devastation of the Civil War—but almost as if it was one big cannon shot. Closer, though, it became clear that this could be no work of man. Landslides had half filled the notch, and no one had yet reached the scene of the explosion…but one thing was certain; there would be no survivors any closer.
Wire reports and rumors, of course, had spread across the nation, and the world. What possible cause could simply devastate such a vast area in an instant? And more important, could it happen again?
Churches filled, as a “Wrath of God” event was a popular thought…though in the South, there was some mixed feelings, as President Grant had just recently concluded a visit to that very site. And in the former rebel lands, they knew that God could not be so careless as to miss Grant, if He chose to smite the White Mountains.
The governor of the state, however, was missing in the blast, and presumed dead. Also missing and presumed dead were numerous prominent, wealthy individuals who had been vacationing at the various lodges and hotels. Others, further from the blast, were injured more or less severely, and others straggled in from the backwoods over the next few weeks.
Two days later, an expedition reached the site of the blast—and was astounded by what they saw. It looked like God’s Own Artillery had fired upon New Hampshire—there was a crater almost a mile across, blasted out of hard New England granite. But it wasn’t merely one crater; there was a single vast hole, and scattered around it, were some much smaller ones. (Debris thrown up by the initial impact.)
A few notes:
The meteorite was about 100 feet across, causing a ground burst of ~3.5 megatons. According to the various sites for computing impact, it might have exploded at around 400 feet up—but in this case, the impact site was above that, resulting in a huge crater.
My intention is to have the meteorite impact be clear and well known to the people of the United States, yet not devastate the country—though remain in the nation’s conciousness for a LONG time. The great crater is also a permanent reminder of the power of nature, and the danger from the sky.
I’m thinking that, with the USA being relatively unimportant in the consciousness of Europe, the event will fade from memory over there.
I’m putting this here, and not ASB, because a meteor impact is a low probability, but not impossible, event, and I’m not going to make changes that lead to more impacts. I’m hoping to examine the effects of this on the USA and the world.
Any thoughts will be appreciated!
June, 1876: A brilliant streak of light illuminates the evening sky over the Western Atlantic and the American East Coast, drawing amazed looks from all. Then, to the north of the big industrial cities of Concord and Manchester, a brilliant flash of light illuminates the sky. Almost seven minutes later, a long, low rumbling is heard at the state house. Over the town of Franconia, a column of smoke rises, quickly spreading out into the mushroom cloud characteristic of a large explosion. Franconia was simply GONE; a vast piece of rock falling from the sky had obliterated it. Although no one at the time, had any idea how big an explosion it was, other than “Enormous,” later generations would estimate the blast as being the approximate equivalent of 7 million tons of black powder. (3.5 megatons in OTL’s terms. In this timeline, large blasts are measured in tons of black powder, that being the prevalent explosive of the era of the first scientifically measured “Big One”.)
Even as the echoes reverberated through the White Mountains, triggering landslides, shattering windows, and sending the Old Man of the Mountain tumbling from his precarious perch, they were also reaching Portsmouth, Boston, and even distant New York. In Boston, it was still loud enough to be noticed over the cacophony of steam whistles, clanging horsecars, and the overall hustle and bustle of New England’s biggest city.
The asteroid impact of 1876, which at first was responsible for the destruction of a popular tourist resort and caused widespread terror as word reached out by telegraph, soon had vastly greater repercussions.
2 days later, the first photographs of the devastation appeared in New England newspapers. Flattened buildings, a grand hotel simply reduced to matchsticks, trains blown off the tracks, great trees on the ground, all reminiscent of the devastation of the Civil War—but almost as if it was one big cannon shot. Closer, though, it became clear that this could be no work of man. Landslides had half filled the notch, and no one had yet reached the scene of the explosion…but one thing was certain; there would be no survivors any closer.
Wire reports and rumors, of course, had spread across the nation, and the world. What possible cause could simply devastate such a vast area in an instant? And more important, could it happen again?
Churches filled, as a “Wrath of God” event was a popular thought…though in the South, there was some mixed feelings, as President Grant had just recently concluded a visit to that very site. And in the former rebel lands, they knew that God could not be so careless as to miss Grant, if He chose to smite the White Mountains.
The governor of the state, however, was missing in the blast, and presumed dead. Also missing and presumed dead were numerous prominent, wealthy individuals who had been vacationing at the various lodges and hotels. Others, further from the blast, were injured more or less severely, and others straggled in from the backwoods over the next few weeks.
Two days later, an expedition reached the site of the blast—and was astounded by what they saw. It looked like God’s Own Artillery had fired upon New Hampshire—there was a crater almost a mile across, blasted out of hard New England granite. But it wasn’t merely one crater; there was a single vast hole, and scattered around it, were some much smaller ones. (Debris thrown up by the initial impact.)
A few notes:
The meteorite was about 100 feet across, causing a ground burst of ~3.5 megatons. According to the various sites for computing impact, it might have exploded at around 400 feet up—but in this case, the impact site was above that, resulting in a huge crater.
My intention is to have the meteorite impact be clear and well known to the people of the United States, yet not devastate the country—though remain in the nation’s conciousness for a LONG time. The great crater is also a permanent reminder of the power of nature, and the danger from the sky.
I’m thinking that, with the USA being relatively unimportant in the consciousness of Europe, the event will fade from memory over there.
I’m putting this here, and not ASB, because a meteor impact is a low probability, but not impossible, event, and I’m not going to make changes that lead to more impacts. I’m hoping to examine the effects of this on the USA and the world.
Any thoughts will be appreciated!