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A NOVEL about a massive and yet mysterious explosion in Siberia is the subject of the latest book published by Narooma writer Paul England. But far from a dry scientific analysis of what happened at the place known as Tunguska, this novel is pure science fiction in the classic sense – a rollicking and intricate tale about the alien personalities that become stranded on our planet. How these interstellar explorers caused and then covered up what was a planetary event is the sci-fi adventure that is “Tunguska”. Early on a June morning in 1908, a tremendous explosion rocked an area in Siberia around Tunguska. The peasants within 80 kilometres of the blast saw a multi-coloured, mushroom shaped cloud slowly rising high into the sky. Later there were accounts of animals and those brave humans who ventured into the area of the explosion being struck down with a strange sickness. Scientists said that the explosion that caused shock waves to circle the Earth several times was the result of a meteor. But meteors strike the Earth and leave a crater. This blast was at least a mile above the surface, and there was no crater - just millions of trees flattened and laid out in lines radiating from the centre of the explosion, over an area of hundreds of square miles! “Another perplexing fact that cast doubt on the 'meteor' theory was that the object slowed down and changed direction before it exploded, according to eyewitnesses in Afghanistan,” England said. “Scientists believe it was a meteor, and completely discount any other explanation, even though eye-witness evidence points to some sort of control!” The author has his own views of this enduring mystery. From his research of the explosion in Siberia and other inexplicable events in the Bermuda Triangle, Bass Strait and other areas in the world, he has formed an opinion that all these strange happenings have tenuous links to each other. “Tunguska is fiction, of necessity, and is his scenario of what could explain the, so far, inexplicable! - Read Tunguska and decide for yourself!” The Tunguska event caught England’s attention many years ago; long before the Internet. He has always been interested in the paranormal and the inexplicable, those events that have no plausible explanation. The Bermuda Triangle enigma has long fascinated him, even more so when governments glibly explain away the disappearances as natural occurrences in the face of corroborated sightings by reliable witnesses. “UFOs are also inexplicable, well most of them are,” he said. “Airline pilots have put their careers on the line to report events that have put their aircraft in danger!” Now research is so easy with the World Wide Web, and so much information is available on almost any topic, including masses of information about all three topics. Quite recently, eyewitness accounts of the Tunguska event from Afghanistan have come to light. “And the clincher was a report that small glass like beads found at the epicentre of the Tunguska explosion were very similar to glass like beads found at Hiroshima after the Atomic bomb in 1945! “So with all that information it was a natural progression for me to write something. “My first attempt to write about the Tunguska explosion disappointed me, because it was difficult not to paraphrase some of the evidence, which reads like science fiction. “I decided to write a sci-fi novel, but combining much of the enigmatic information about Bermuda, UFOs and Tunguska, because anything I wrote had to be fictional anyway.” He said reader could enjoy the novel without the some known facts and figures he added in the preface, but he hopes it does prompt some discussion, which was his aim. He is now working on his early life story, from age three to 17 when he joined the Royal Navy. “As an experienced father of two daughters, grandfather of six and great grandfather of; phew, I’ve lost count, one would think I have seen everything; certainly seen enough not to be surprised at anything a child does or says. But I still cringe when recalling moments of my own youth; wow, did I really do that or surely that can’t be right. “But times were different, people were different; in fact it was a different world to the one we live in today.” Paul England has also published Voyage of a Lifetime, which documents one family’s sea voyage from England to Australia, as well as a number of children’s books, known as the “Frogger” series. Tunguska is now available in local bookshops and is also available worldwide as a paperback and Kindle EBook through Amazon and CreateSpace.

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