Episode overview

The Asteroid Behind the Bible's Most Famous Disaster

The Why Files · 26 June 2026 · 5 Egleze moments

What happened in this episode?

In this Y-Files episode, host AJ examines controversial claims that ancient asteroid impacts may be documented in archaeological records and ancient texts. The central narrative links three artifacts: a 5,000-year-old Assyrian clay tablet from Nineveh's library, the Nebra Sky Disc found in Germany, and physical evidence from excavation sites in Austria and Jordan. Rocket scientists Allan Bond and Mark Hempsell proposed that the Nineveh planisphere records an asteroid strike at Kofels, Austria on June 29, 3123 BC, using planetarium software to reconstruct ancient star positions. The episode then shifts to archaeologist Stephen Collins' excavations at Tall el-Hammam in Jordan, which he identified as the biblical city of Sodom. His team found evidence of extreme heat—melted pottery, shocked quartz, diamond dust, and iridium deposits—consistent with an airburst around 1650 BC. A 2021 paper making these claims was retracted in April 2025 after physicist Mark Boslough challenged the methodology, though the team republished elsewhere. Ironically, Boslough now leads research warning that the Taurid meteor stream poses genuine threats during close approaches in 2032 and 2036. The episode emphasizes that similar destruction patterns appear at Abu Hurayra, Syria dating to 12,800 years ago, suggesting a history of impacts predating writing. AJ concludes by noting a building-sized asteroid passed Earth undetected in December 2024, highlighting current blind spots in planetary defense. While mainstream assyriologists and many archaeologists dispute the impact interpretations, the physical evidence of ancient high-temperature destruction events remains unexplained.

What are the key points?

A 2021 paper claiming biblical Sodom was destroyed by asteroid airburst was retracted in April 2025 after methodological challenges from physicist Mark Boslough.
Tall el-Hammam excavations revealed melted pottery and glass requiring temperatures above 3,600°F, far hotter than volcanic activity can produce.
Rocket scientists used planetarium software to decode a 5,000-year-old Assyrian tablet as recording an asteroid trajectory ending at Kofels, Austria in 3123 BC.
The Taurid meteor stream may contain up to 1,000 dangerous rocks with close approaches forecast for 2032 and 2036, according to recent research.
Abu Hurayra, Syria shows identical destruction signatures to disputed Sodom site but dates to 12,800 years ago and remains unretracted in scientific literature.
A building-sized asteroid passed between Earth and satellites in December 2024 completely undetected until two days after it departed.
Mainstream assyriologists dispute Bond and Hempsell's tablet translation, interpreting it as a ritual calendar rather than impact documentation.

Which topics are covered?

History Science Society

How is this page sourced?

Programme: The Why Files
Published: 26 June 2026
Original episode: Open the original source ↗

Egleze verifies the speaker, source and timestamp for each linked moment. Unless a moment is explicitly marked independently verified, statements remain attributed claims by the named speaker rather than established facts.

Watch original episode More from The Why Files

5 moments from this episode

Source-linked · editorially selected

History

Ancient Assyrian Tablet May Record Asteroid Strike That Hit Austria in 3123 BC

at 10:26 · Attributed speaker claim

An object that big, that low, moving that fast doesn't stop at the horizon. It keeps going. They drew the line on a map. Northwest across Iraq. Across Turkey. Across the Balkans. 2,000 miles until the line ran straight into the side of a mountain. A valley in the Ostfalen Alps. A place called Kofels.

Rocket scientists Allan Bond and Mark Hempsell analyzed a 5,000-year-old clay tablet from Nineveh's library, arguing it maps an asteroid trajectory culminating at Kofels, Austria on June 29, 3123 BC. Using planetarium software to reconstruct ancient star positions, they traced a path from Mesopotamia to the Alps where a massive landslide shows evidence of melted rock and shock fractures. Mainstream assyriologists dispute their translation, seeing a ritual calendar rather than an eyewitness account.

Read this moment → Check original at 10:26 ↗

History

Retracted Study Claims Biblical Sodom Destroyed by Asteroid Airburst in 1650 BC

at 20:13 · Attributed speaker claim

They pulled out pottery that melted instead of breaking, glazed on one side and untouched on the other, like somebody took a blowtorch to one side of a piece of clay. They found mud brick with the outer face turned into glass while the inside was still clay, and grain cooked to black dust right where it sat. Glass forms at about 3,600°F. Lava out of a volcano tops out at around 2,200. Nothing on Earth's surface gets pottery that hot.

Archaeologist Stephen Collins led excavations at Tall el-Hammam in Jordan, claiming the Bronze Age city was destroyed by an asteroid airburst equivalent to 1,000 Hiroshimas around 1650 BC. Evidence included melted pottery, shocked quartz, diamond dust, and iridium deposits. A 2021 paper was retracted in April 2025 after physicist Mark Boslough challenged the methodology, though the team republished an expanded version elsewhere one month later, moving the scientific debate from mainstream journals to alternative publications.

Read this moment → Check original at 20:13 ↗

History

12,800 Year Old Syrian Village Shows Same Asteroid Impact Signature as Disputed Sodom Site

at 28:44 · Attributed speaker claim

12,800 years ago, long before writing, a village on the Euphrates called Abu Hurayra burned the same way. The same melt glass, the same diamond dust, the same iron beads. Temperatures past 3,600 degrees. Nobody retracted Abu Hurayra.

The ancient village of Abu Hurayra on the Euphrates River shows identical destruction evidence to Tall el-Hammam—melt glass, diamond dust, iron beads, and temperatures exceeding 3,600°F. The Abu Hurayra findings remain published and unretracted despite the controversy surrounding the Sodom claims, suggesting a pattern of ancient airbursts that predates written history by thousands of years.

Read this moment → Check original at 28:44 ↗

Science

Physicist Warns Taurid Meteor Stream Poses Threat in 2032 and 2036

at 30:42 · Attributed speaker claim

Mark Boslow, the man who helped take down the Sodom paper, led a new study on the Torridge Stream. The same stream from Kofels. His team's finding: the swarm makes its next close passes in 2032 and 2036. And if dangerous rocks are riding in it, most won't be visible until they're already past us.

The physicist who debunked the Sodom asteroid claim is now warning about the Taurid meteor stream, remnants of a giant comet that crosses Earth's orbit twice yearly. His research indicates the stream could contain up to 1,000 rocks the size of the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor, which hospitalized 1,500 people. The swarm's next close approaches in 2032 and 2036 may not be detectable until after the danger has passed.

Read this moment → Check original at 30:42 ↗

Science

Building-Sized Asteroid Passed Earth Undetected Until After It Left in December 2024

at 32:15 · Attributed speaker claim

In December 2024, a building-sized rock passed between the Earth and the satellites. We never saw it coming. We only saw it leaving. It came out of the daytime sky, passed us, and a telescope in Chile caught it 2 days later, already headed away. Its return date was December 2032.

A rock the size of a 20-story building passed between Earth and its satellites in December 2024 completely undetected, only being spotted by a Chilean telescope two days after it had already left. The Webb Telescope later tracked it and calculated a clean miss for its 2032 return. The incident highlights current blind spots in asteroid detection systems, particularly for objects approaching from the direction of the sun.

Read this moment → Check original at 32:15 ↗