Coherent Catastrophism of the 1980s

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In the mid-to-late 1980s, British astronomer Victor Clube (together with Scottish astronomer and author Bill Napier) published (1982) a foundational work on so-called "Coherent Catastrophism". This theory posits that Earth has, throughout human history, been subject to episodic, heavy bombardments from space that are tied directly to the evolution and fragmentation of giant comets. Rather than viewing comet impacts as entirely random, isolated events, Clube argued that massive "giant comets" enter the inner solar system and continuously break apart, creating streams of debris that periodically intersect with Earth's orbit. According to Clube, a massive bombardment event occurred just a few thousand years ago. He argued that the widespread fear of comets, the cross-cultural association of gods with planets, and the belief in angels in ancient history are literal cultural memories of these terrifying cosmic events.

He further postulates that these events were accompanied by climate change due to dust deposition, proposing that a comet doesn't need to make a direct, single catastrophic impact to alter human history. Instead, the "exceptional deposition of cosmic dust" into Earth's atmosphere from these debris streams induces severe climate changes. These cosmic-dust-induced climate shifts directly to major historical crises and societal collapses, including the fall of the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, and even the English Civil War.

References

1982a 'The Cosmic Serpent', with Bill Napier

1982b 'Close encounters with a million comets' (15 July 1982). New Scientist 95, (1314), 148–151, with Bill Napier