Part 6/15:
The Origins and Nature of Impact Events
The core of the YDIH revolves around the idea that the impactor was a massive, long-period comet, possibly over 100 kilometers in diameter, originating from the Oort Cloud. Such objects are not just icy snowballs; they can contain substantial rocky and metallic material, making impact events potentially more destructive.
Recent observations, including the breakup of comets such as Shoemaker-Levy 9 into multiple fragments that collided with Jupiter in 1994, reinforce the destructive capacity of comets. The impacts released energies equivalent to hundreds of gigatons of TNT—vastly exceeding human nuclear arsenals—highlighting that even smaller comet fragments can pose civilization-ending threats.