History Main / TheTunguskaEvent

* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': A major event from the ''Cosmos In The Lostbelt'' arc involves Chaldea heading to Tunguska to battle and defeat recurring antagonist Koyanskaya. [[spoiler:The event reveals that Koyanskaya is a nature spirit [[AnthropomorphicPersonification created from the animals killed during the Tunguska Event]]. As many animals were driven to Tunguska because of hunting from humans, they blamed the humans for the event, and thus Koyanskaya's initial goal is to become a Beast of Humanity to carry their vengeance on all humans]].

* ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'':

** ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' elaborates on what the event was in this universe: [[spoiler:it was a previous attempt by Gozer to manifest in our dimension.]]

** A later book reveals that he ''was killing a dragon with it''.

* In ''Film/Hellboy2004'', the event was caused by a 20-ton rock, sent to Earth by the [[EldritchAbomination Ogdru Jahad]]. This rock is vital for opening the [[{{Hellgate}} portal to the Void]].

* The theory that a quantum black hole was the cause of the event is near-proven in Creator/LarryNiven's "Literature/TheBorderlandOfSol" after such were found by extrapolating possible orbits from the time and location of the event.

* ''Series/DoctorWho [[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]]'': In the ''Literature/PastDoctorAdventures'' novel ''Wages of Sin'', the Third Doctor takes his companions Liz and Jo back in time to watch the Tunguska event; they become entangled in contemporary Russian politics, but there's nothing weird about the event itself, which is just a meteoroid — as far as they know. In the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel ''Birthright'', featuring the Seventh Doctor, the event turns out to have been caused by a TARDIS exploding.

* In David Brin's ''Earth'', the event was a very small black hole falling into the earth. Which may or may not have been artificially created by aliens to destroy the world before humanity could become a threat. The black hole is more of a MacGuffin, in that it's never resolved where it came from.
* In the Superman/Batman novel ''Enemies and Allies'', Lex Luthor's Russian allies have a large kryptonite-bearing meteorite implied to be the Tunguska rock. The radiation has horribly deformed the trees and wildlife around the area, and does the same to humans.

* In the Franchise/StarTrek novel ''Prime Directive'', the Tunguska explosion is caused by a meteor impact, but the meteor's trejectory is altered by a Vulcan exploration ship (which is observing the Earth) to prevent it from striking Western Europe and wiping out most of human civilization.

On 30 June 1908 (17 June, going by the Julian calendar still in use in Russia at the time), shortly after 7 a.m., residents of the hills northwest of Lake Baikal in Siberia saw a light in the sky, nearly as bright as the sun. This was followed by a flash of light, a sound like artillery fire, and a shockwave that knocked people off their feet and shattered windows. Something had [[StuffBlowingUp exploded]] in the forest near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River, with energy equivalent to 10-15 megatons of TNT (However, [[http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2007/asteroid.html some recent experiments]] indicate that the blast may have actually been ''smaller'', at "only" 3-5 megatons).

In 1921, Russian mineralogist Leonid Kulik concluded from eyewitness accounts that the explosion was from a meteorite impact. He led an expedition to the Tunguska region, hoping to find and salvage the meteor itself. Instead, they found a 50 kilometer-wide region of scorched and felled trees, with no impact crater to be found.

In 2007 a small lake [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Cheko Cheko]] has been suggested to have an impact origin. It's absent from 19th century maps (albeit rather inaccurate ones) and appears only from 1929 onward, it has unusual shape, and it's only 8 km from the epicenter. But this hypothesis requires further investigation.

As of 2022, analysis of sediment samples from the lakebed has ruled out this theory- the lake had existed for centuries prior to the blast, and was only missing from maps due to the region being mostly unexplored wilderness.

As of 2022 the meteorite still hasn't been found.

On February 15, 2013, a 50 foot, 7000 ton meteor airburst over the Chelyabinsk Oblast, releasing the equivalent of 300 kilotons of TNT and [[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/16/world/europe/meteorite-fragments-are-said-to-rain-down-on-siberia.html injuring 1,200 people]]. Thanks to the many Russian motorists who use dashcams (to settle traffic and speeding disputes), the Chelyabinsk Superbolide was no mystery, and coincidentally was the largest explosion from an extraterrestrial source since... the Tunguska Event.

In any case, as the sheer number of examples show below, the Tunguska Event is your go-to mysterious explosion for any fiction writer who wants to put that sprinkling of historicity on their work.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

* The ComicBook/UltimateMarvel ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'' miniseries revealed in the first mini (''Ultimate Nightmare'') that the Tunguska Incident was caused by the Vision crash-landing to Earth. He (she?) was quickly taken into Russian custody and dissected so its OrganicTechnology could be used to kickstart a SuperSoldier project, which means no one learned about Gah Lak Tus until about a year before he was supposed to eat Earth. In this universe the Tunguska explosion was said to have happened in 1904 instead of 1908, and WordOfGod is that the date was moved to make it a century before the release date of the comic in 2004. Creator/WarrenEllis, as a rule, does his research.
** In the main 616 continuity, as part of the ''ComicBook/OriginalSin'' crossover, Mighty Avengers vol. 2 #12 reveals the Tunguska Event was part of an ancient cabal of powerful immortal rulers using a magic ceremony to create a powerful animal/human creature (a character called 'The Bear', introduced in an earlier "[[{{retcon}} flashback]]" Iron Man).
** This [[DependingOnTheWriter contradicts other throwaway references]] to the cause of the event, like Kang redirecting a direct blast from Black Bolt there, or Doom, Iron Man and Johnny Storm having a fight with him on his time machine. If it's not an allohistorical reference, chances are that huge explosions mixed with time travelers will be the cause. The marvel wiki has a [[https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Tunguska_Event short list]] of explanations.
* A ''[[Franchise/ThePinkPanther Pink Panther]]'' comic book claims it was produced by a time-travel hole which happened to open right in the middle of a nuclear rocket launch in the far future.

* The short-lived "Shadowline" imprint also had the explosion as a result of a super-powered battle.

* ComicBook/AtomicRobo ascribes to the "Tesla did it" school of thought, naturally - specifically, he used Wardenclyffe Tower to "pinch" reality in order to stop an EldritchAbomination from manifesting. It only slowed it down.
* The big PointOfDivergence in ''ComicBook/EastOfWest'' happens when, through unknown circumstances, the meteor that caused the Tunguska Event in real life lands in America instead, helping end a dragged-out American Civil War. A character even lampshades that [[AllohistoricalAllusion it feels like the meteor was supposed to hit someplace else]].
* The ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comic strip "Follow That TARDIS!" has the Doctor being forced at gunpoint to grab a a LeeroyJenkins and his CloserToEarth bookworm of a brother, since the former wants revenge on [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E9TheTimeMeddler the Meddling Monk]] for [[SeriousBusiness damaging his car and not paying him]]. When they end up in Tunguska, the hothead decides to clear some space, but instead of a grenade, [[TooDumbToLive he throws a mini-nuke]]. The three barely escape, while the Monk's TARDIS ends up damaged.

* In ''Fanfic/SayItThrice'', a crossover between ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', the event was caused by a ghost in possession of the [[ArtifactofDoom Gem of Osiris]].
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10037020/14/The-Unwilling-Participant The Unwilling Participant]]'' claims it was the result of a bungled attempt to summon Yog-Sothoth.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7051218/4/Harry-Potter-and-the-Elder-Sect Harry Potter and the Elder Sect]]'' [[Series/{{Bewitched}} Endora]] claims it and several other natural disasters were the result of one of her people getting extremely upset.

* In the background material of ''FanFic/SonicXDarkChaos'', it was the result of a disabled Angel scout ship activating its Warpspace drive in Earth's atmosphere just before it crashed.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12086401/1/One-Day-in-King-s-Row One Day in King's Row]]'', [[VideoGame/{{Overwatch}} Tracer]] notes that having Level 5 clearance, along with allowing her to know the true cause of the [[RobotWar Omnic Crisis]] and about the existence of the [[Franchise/HarryPotter Wizarding World]], she also knows the real cause of both the Tunguska Event of 1908 ''and'' the Tunguska Event of 2023. All she says it that it turns out that aliens weren't little green men.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12880573/1/Basilisk-Go-Boom Basilisk Go Boom]]'' claims it was due to overuse of a time turner.

* In ''Literature/SecretCity'' the event is never called by name, but explosion was caused by The Lesser Poseidon's Throne, humans' Source of mana, going critical after removal of controlling artefact. This was used to cover tracks of experimental world-hopping ritual from the Great Houses. Throne was presumed to be destroyed in the event, but actually it flew around a bit and then crash-landed, embedding itself in some random hill to be found by Soviets later.

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' worldbook ''Black Ops'', the event was caused by the spaceship of TheGreys crashing.
** ''Infinite Worlds'' claims that it was caused by a sliver of a black hole, [[FridgeLogic don't think too hard about that one]].
* In ''TabletopGame/NecessaryEvil'' for Savage Worlds the event is caused by a Protean speceship.

* In TabletopGame/ExTempore'', it was caused by an experiment by the Strigae.
* In the 5th edition ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' supplement "The Mystic World", we learn that a cabal of evil sorcerors/ritual magicians teamed up to drop the magical equivalent of a tactical nuke onto Earth's Archmage. This involved opening a portal to {{Hell}} into his home while he was working with an artifact that used Heavenly fire. He lived in the Tunguska region.
* In "TabletopGame/FreedomCity" universe of ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'', this event could be a transdimensional tear that allowed the Centurion to cross into the FC universe from his own.

* In American timeline from ''VideoGame/OriginalWar'', they've sneaked their expedition to Siberia and retrived bunch of artifacts from Tunguska. Among them is a cylindrical object, what will later turn out to be a quasi-TimeMachine, labelled EON. Once it is used, in the resulting new timeline, the Soviets send their own expedition to Tunguska as their did historically, to find what they will later label as TAWAR.

* In ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans 2'', the Tunguska Event turned out to be [[spoiler:a crashed [[GiantEnemyCrab Blisk]] ship]].
* From what players have [[JigsawPuzzlePlot pieced together]] using clues left in the levels, the VideoGame/NaziZombies problem from the bonus stages of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar'' seem related to a meteor impact in Tunguska.
* The Chimera from the ''VideoGame/{{Resistance}}'' series crashed on Earth in the event, and dominated the isolated Russian Empire by the 1940s.
* One of ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} 4'''s modern-era {{random event}}s is a mysterious explosion that takes out an arctic forest in your territory in a recreation of the Tunguska Event. It's quite useful, since your scientists are better motivated to explore space and prevent similar meteorite impacts, boosting your production speed of the Apollo Program and laboratories.
* In GameMod ''VideoGame/RedAlert3Paradox'', the event was a meteorite impact and research on its material left granted the Soviets their magnetic weaponry.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'' during a spied on conversation between a scientist and a Korean general, pieces of alien artifacts are mentioned to have been found in Tunguska. In the sequel it's confirmed that Jacob Hargreave stole the Nanosuit technology from the aliens (apparently a scouting troop) during or after the Tunguska event. The last piece in the Nanosuit 2's chemical processes is called [[MeaningfulName the Tunguska Iteration]].

* ''VideoGame/GirlsFrontline's'' divergence point from the real world timeline begins in the early 20th century when the Russian Empire discovers a buried alien ruin in the Siberian tundra. Their mining efforts to excavate the site inadvertently set off a reactor core in the ruin and causes the Tunguska event. Regardless, some alien relics are recovered and research into them continues even after the Bolshevik Revolution establishes the Soviet Union. While UsefulNotes/WorldWarII occurs mostly unchanged, it is during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar when additional alien ruins are found near Shanghai (including the body of an actual alien, code-named "GAVIRUL") where the game's setting goes into full-on AlternateHistory, with [[WeirdHistoricalWar the U.S. using alien tech in the Vietnam War and the Soviets doing the same in their invasion of Afghanistan]].
* The Railjacks of ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' come equipped with a WaveMotionGun whose main use is to take down enemy Crewships [[OneHitKill in a single shot]]. It is colloquially referred to as the "Forward Artillery", though its actual name is the Tunguska Cannon.
* In ''VideoGame/HonkaiImpact3rd'', Dr. Tesla protests her role in Tunguska, insisting it was "just an accident" and that she "tried her best to repair the damages". Exactly ''what'' she did [[NoodleIncident is still unclear]].
* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': A major event from the ''Cosmos In The Lostbelt'' arc involves Chaldea heading to Tunguska to battle and defeat recurring antagonist Koyanskaya. [[spoiler:The event reveals that Koyanskaya is a nature spirit [[AnthropomorphicPersonification created from the animals killed during the Tunguska Event]]. As many animals were driven to Tunguska because of hunting from humans, they blamed the humans for the event, and thus Koyanskaya's initial goal is to become a Beast of Humanity to carry their vengeance on all humans]].
* ''Tunguska: Legend Of Faith'' for the [=PlayStation=] revovles around the player, an inter-dimensional traveler, investigating a series of supernatural events in Tunguska, after the meteor's impact. Said meteor's landing somehow caused assorted monsters and demons to infest the Tunguska countryside, led by one mysterious Order of Tunguska established after the incident.

* In ''Literature/MagicMetahumansMartiansAndMushroomCloudsAnAlternateColdWar'', the OSP (the Soviets' paranormal research agency) investigates Tunguska and discover that the blast was caused by an alien spaceship crashing in the region.
* In ''WebAnimation/OverlySarcasticProductions''' [[YoutuberApologyParody We're So Sorry]] video, Red apologises for causing the Tunguska Event, claiming that she thought plugging a power bar into itself would generate infinite electricity.

-->'''Dr Ray Stantz:''' You have been a participant in the biggest interdimensional cross rip since the Tunguska blast of 1909![[note]][[CriticalResearchFailure (FacePalm)]][[/note]]

* The Wiki/SCPFoundation houses [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-873 SCP-873]] which is believed to have either have gained its unusual properties on the night of the Event or to have been the ''cause'' of the Event. The exact connection remains unknown.

Today, most scientists agree that The Tunguska Event was caused by a meteoroid exploding in mid-air rather than directly impacting. While such air-bursts are common at higher altitudes, they are rarely close enough to Earth's surface to cause damage. There's some debate over whether the exploding space rock came from a comet (which would explain lack of a solid meteorite body) or an asteroid.

In 2007 a small lake [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Cheko Cheko]] has been suggested to have an impact origin. It's absent from 19th century maps (albeit rather inaccurate ones) and appears only from 1929 onward, it has unusual shape, and it's only 8 km from the epicenter. But this hypothesis requires further investigation. As of 2013 the meteorite still hasn't been found.

* In ''Literature/{{Leviathan}}'', UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla caused the explosion by using his DeathRay, Goliath. He wishes to use this weapon to stop [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the war.]] [[spoiler:{{Subverted}} in that it doesn't work. The explosion at Tunguska was actually caused by an asteroid like in real life, and Tesla was only testing Goliath at the same time and ended up [[CorrelationCausationGag believing that he caused the explosion]].]]
* ''Literature/MissPeregrinesHomeForPeculiarChildren'' has the explosion as the first encounter with the Hollowgast, a group of evil magicians.

** The event has also been the source of PhlebotinumKilledTheDinosaurs explanations in the expanded universe.
*** The comic strip “Follow That TARDIS” has the Doctor being forced at gunpoint to grab a a LeeroyJenkins and his CloserToEarth bookworm of a brother, since the former wants revenge on [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E9TheTimeMeddler the Meddling Monk]] for [[SeriousBusiness damaging his car and not paying him]]. When they end up in Tunguska, the hothead decides to clear some space, but instead of a grenade, [[TooDumbToLive he throws a mini-nuke]]. The three barely escape, while the Monk’s TARDIS ends up damaged.
*** The novel “Birthright” attributes it to aliens entering Earth’s timeline, with the explosion a result of the distortion.

* From what players have [[JigsawPuzzlePlot pieced together]] using clues left in the levels, the VideoGame/NaziZombies problem from the bonus stages of ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty: World at War'' seem related to a meteor impact in Tunguska.

* The Railjacks of {{VideoGame/Warframe}} come equipped with a WaveMotionGun whose main use is to take down enemy Crewships [[OneHitKill in a single shot]]. It is colloquially referred to as the "Forward Artillery", though its actual name is the Tunguska Cannon.

* Referenced in ''Podcast/Revival:ADungeons&DragonsRealplayPodcast'' when [[spoiler: Jeron explodes from Illithids trying to come to The Rock through an interplanar rift and also from working with multiple versions of himself pulled though time]]

* In ''WebAnimation/OverlySarcasticProductions''s [[YoutuberApologyParody We're So Sorry]] video, Red apologises for causing the Tunguska Event, claiming that she thought plugging a power bar into itself would generate infinite electricity.

** ''TabletopGame/EldritchHorror'' has its own version of the Seed of Azathoth adventure.

* In other Polish book, this time adventure ''Tomek's Secret Expedition'' by Alfred Szklarski, the Tunguska event saves the skins of the main characters. While they are almost overwhelmed by bandits chasing after them, the event similar to meteorite impact happens nearby. The heroes are just as awestruck as their pursuers, but manage to shake out of the stupor fast enough to successfully run away, while their pursuers flee in panic. The footnote (something the ''[[{{Edutainment}} Tomek]]'' [[{{Edutainment}} series is famous for]]) explains what Tunguska event was.

* In other Polish book, this time adventure ''Tomek's Secret Expedition'' by Alfred Szklarski, the Tunguska events saves the skins of the main characters. While they are almost overwhelmed by bandits chasing after them, the event similar to meteorite impact happens nearby. The heroes are just as awestruck as their pursuers, but manage to shake out of the stupor fast enough to successfully run away, while their pursuers flee in panic. The footnote (something the ''[[{{Edutainment}} Tomek]]'' [[{{Edutainment}} series is famous for]]) explains what Tunguska event was.