If a powerful and explanatory new theory about the convergence of
ancient history, ancient mythology, ancient religion and the hard
sciences of archaeology, astronomy and astrophysics were to
revolutionize human thinking about who we are and where we come from,
would anyone care enough to move their mouse pointer and click?

THUNDERBOLTS OF THE GODS, by David Talbott and Wallace Thornhill, is
the first in a series of volumes presenting a synthesis of ancient
testimony, high energy plasma laboratory experiments, and space age
discoveries. The authors contend that large scale electrical phenomena
led to a series of global catastrophes in ancient times. These
electrical events, though similar in principle to the aurora borealis
today, were intensely energetic and often punctuated by devastating
global instabilities.

The authors do not place these celestial dramas in a geologically
remote epoch. They claim that earthshaking upheaval occurred so
recently as to have profoundly affected early human cultures. And they
contend that the myths and religions of all ancient peoples
memorialized these events.

The study of plasma discharge is a new and exciting development in
space age astronomy. Talbott and Thornhill show particular interest in
these developments because they see space plasma as a bridge between
the ancient and modern worlds. To advance their case, they present
side-by-side comparisons of laboratory plasma experiments and globally
recurring symbols of the ancient sky. The evidence, they report, shows
an ancient obsession with extremely violent electrical discharge
formations in the heavens.

At the core of this reconstruction is the unique behavior of plasma.
This "fourth state of matter" has been studied for less than a hundred
years, and only in the recent decades of the space age have
astronomers begun to realize its importance to the understanding of
structure in space. Astronomical objects ranging from supernovas and
intergalactic filaments to interstellar banks of excited gasses and
all of the stars in the heavens are now known to be constituted of
plasma- a conductive medium which also permeates the near-vacuum of
space. All celestial objects move through and react with
differentiated regions of plasma.

Because the plasma state is defined by the presence of charged
particles, electrical and magnetic forces often dominate gravitational
forces. Many structures now revealed in space, while defying
gravitational equations, are predictable under the laws of plasma
behavior observed in the laboratory. From these discoveries, a new
approach to the understanding of the physical universe is emerging.
This approach is called plasma cosmology.

Through unimaginable labors, millions of our ancestors carved
unexplained pictures on stone, numbering in the tens of millions. But
what inspired this massive endeavor around the world? The laboratory
experiments make clear that the ancient artists were copying
spectacular electrical phenomena in the heavens. Indeed, the global
correspondence between laboratory discharge configurations and the
pictographs on stone is so detailed that same-scale images from the
laboratory and from archaeological investigation can be overlaid with
astonishing precision.

By systematically comparing these images to the most prominent
mythological themes, the authors reach a revolutionary conclusion. In
ancient times, electrical activity produced gigantic and violently
metamorphosing formations above the ancient witnesses. According to
Talbott and Thornhill, these terrifying apparitions were the true
source of the enigmatic celestial serpents, dragons, cosmic mountains,
long-tongued demons, and metamorphosing gods, goddesses, and heroes of
the ancient world.

Perhaps the authors' most radical tenet is the role of the Solar
System's planets in these events. For they contend that at least some
of the planets moved on different orbits than observed today,
appearing as giant spheres extremely close to Earth and anciently
celebrated as towering celestial gods. Thus, the demonstrable power of
the electric force to override the weak force of gravity is vital to
their hypothesis. From this new vantage point, the pervasive ancient
reverence and fear directed toward planets and toward comets as
harbingers of destruction finds a new interpretation -- a gauntlet
thrown down to challenge the stable and predictable solar system of
modern theory.

For more than three decades, Talbott and Thornhill have each been
major contributors to the study of catastrophe in ancient times.
Talbott was publisher of Pensée magazine's "Immanuel Velikovsky
Reconsidered" series in the early seventies, which provoked a surge of
international interest in the questions of history and cosmology
raised by Velikovsky. Talbott then offered his own reconstruction of
the past in THE SATURN MYTH (Doubleday, 1980). His hypothesis was also
depicted in the 1996 documentary, "Remembering the End of the World."

Thornhill has delivered numerous presentations on the "electric
universe" at symposia and workshops in the United States and abroad.
His CD, "The Electric Universe," was published in 1998. His website at
www.holoscience.com, with its challenge to theoretical assumptions in
astronomy and archaeology, has gained increasing popularity.

The authors are now completing a full color layout of volume one,
supplemented by substantial portions of two later volumes. With this
material in hand, they will begin publishing a series of full color
monographs in early summer 2004, representing complementary portions
of the three volumes - a comprehensive analysis of global mythology,
ancient rock art, and religious symbolism in the light of scientific
discovery. THUNDERBOLTS is the first complete work on the subject
available to general readers, though the scientific evidence is now
finding its way into specialized journals. Each monograph will be
accompanied by a 30-minute DVD with interviews, animations and
photographic analysis designed to give a broad overview of the
subject.

Please take a moment to view the introduction and Chapter One

http://www.thunderbolts.info