To explore different possibilities extensive research for this book included more than fifty sources in an attempt to better understand the enormous unprecedented scale of devastation and loss of more than a thousand lives. To better visualize the scale and locations relative to each other, the different towns involved and the timing, various tools like Google Earth and the Earth Impact Effects Program were utilized. Many details were gained from quotes of those who survived to tell the tragic stories of the many who did not. After learning many details, comparisons were made to the destruction and witness stories of known impact events mainly the 1908 Tunguska and 2013 Chelyabinsk airburst events.

Every day countless meteors “burn up” in our atmosphere and atoms of magnesium, iron, nickel and other elements  that once formed asteroids are ripped from the mass by ablation (vaporized not burned) during high speed entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. Meteoric Smoke Particles (MSP) that remain in the atmosphere have been studied by NASA and determined to be predominantly magnesium and iron. It can be demonstrated that the known properties of the common elements magnesium and iron could explain most of the other phenomena that was reported to have occurred and the pattern and timing of other fires that spread eastward on the other side of Lake Michigan after the Peshtigo Fire.

If their was an airburst above Peshtigo Harbor on October 8th, 1871 then pieces likely landed somewhere. There happens to be a pond on the upper peninsula of Door County which is the right size and perfect place for a crater in the scenario explored in this book. Thorp Pond is suspected by some locals of being a meteor crater though currently it is not confirmed by any evidence and is not included in the Impact Database. Finally I searched for phenomena that occurred around the world shortly after the fire for possible indicators that the atmosphere contained large amounts of magnesium or iron. What I found in the old scientific journals might surprise you.