In Brief: Evidence for Younger Dryas Comet Impact Is Just Railroad Slag

12/8/2025

One of the original authors of the 2007 paper that introduced the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis provided evidence this weekend that some of the evidence used to support the claim was not, in fact, ancient traces of a comet strike but rather modern railroad slag. Scott Harris coauthored the original comet impact paper but is now taking his coauthors Allen West and Ted Bunch to task, posting a video to Facebook reels showing that material from South Carolina claimed in 2012 to be samples from the comet strike was in fact railroad slag and noting that even in 2007, some of the authors knew that the area where they claimed to have found evidence of a comet strike had been contaminated with modern railroad slag and was in fact an old railroad bed. In short, the material used as evidence of melting and burning from a comet strike was, instead, melted and burned in an industrial furnace. I have a feeling that Graham Hancock is not going to be posting an excited video celebrating honesty in science in this case.

13 Comments

Paul

12/9/2025 09:28:05 am

Another comment that Scoot Harris makes during one of his videos is very interesting. Mr. Harris states that when they were sampling that area originally with an auger drill, they found a, believe he said, 19th century nail about 8 feet below the surface of the ridge of that specific Carolina Bay. So that might indicate that those Carolina Bays are still alive and active, blowing sand and dust around.

E.P.Grondine

12/9/2025 10:58:30 am

That is really bad "science". Carlson's estimate of one strike zone seems to be correct. We'll see. But where.is the funding? Where is the funding for impact research?

Art's Parts Redux

12/9/2025 06:43:26 pm

If I may Chief, and I may, let me remind everyone of "Alan West"'s track record as a conman. As far as funding goes, the answer is "Anywhere Chief is not". The days of someone paying you $40,000 to go to the library are donezo, more accurately that was never really a thing. You just enjoy that recliner, Sad Sackajawea.

Funding for comet impact research comes from a mix of government space agencies (like NASA, ESA, UK Space Agency), university grants (via NSF, foundations), private donors (e.g., Planetary Society, individuals), and international collaborations, supporting everything from asteroid/comet tracking and planetary defense to deep-space missions like Comet Interceptor and terrestrial impact crater studies.
Key Funding Sources:
Government Agencies:
NASA: Funds data centers (like UMD's Small Bodies Node), planetary defense R&D, and space missions through solicitations like ROSES.
European Space Agency (ESA) & UK Space Agency (UKSA): Jointly fund missions like Comet Interceptor, with national contributions for science and technology.
NSF (US National Science Foundation): Supports university research, including facilities for meteorite studies.
Research Institutions & Foundations:
University Partnerships: Programs like COMET (UCAR) link National Weather Service (NWS) with universities for local forecasting, but also support broader Earth science.
Meteoritical Society: Offers the Barringer Family Fund for terrestrial impact crater research.
Planetary Society: Crowdfunds and grants (Shoemaker NEO Grants) for NEO observation and deflection tech.
International & Private Support:
COMET Initiative (UK): Funded by bodies like the Medical Research Council (MRC) for clinical trials (Note: This is different from space comets).
Comet Research Group (CRG): Receives individual gifts and grants (Czech Science Foundation) for research into impact events.
Examples of Funded Projects:
Comet Interceptor: ESA/JAXA mission with UKSA funding for a fast-flyby comet mission.
UMD Small Bodies Node: NASA-funded agreement to manage asteroid and comet data.
CRG Research: Supports work on ocean sediment evidence for comet impacts.
Ocean sediments might support theory that comet impact ...
Aug 5, 2025 — Funding: This work made use of the University of Utah USTAR shared facilities supported, in part, by the MRSEC Program ...

EurekAlert!

$32.5M NASA Funding Agreement Supports Study of Comets, Asteroids and Meteorites
Nov 17, 2021 — NASA has committed $32.5 million to extend a cooperative agreement with the University of Maryland (UMD). The agreemen...

Maryland Today

Comet Interceptor Monitoring & Evaluation Support: Interim Process ...
Aug 18, 2025 — Interim Process & Impact Evaluation Key Findings. ... Comet Interceptor is ESA's first F-Class (fast, flexible, and lo...

I will gladly format the above text for, let's see, call it $40,000. The google search term used was "where is the funding for comet impact research". All those folks must have accidentally lost your address.

E.P. Grondine

12/13/2025 01:44:24 pm

But how much of your list is specifically for geological field work.on impact structures?

Scot dusuger

12/9/2025 07:11:13 pm

It's all being funneled into more pressing subjects such as proving the existence of giant Osage Indians and the unique strain of poison ivy that can take out an entire archaeology crew.

Paul

12/10/2025 12:54:43 pm

Eddy,
That is laughable, coming from you, “that is bad research “.There is legitimate research, actually even some on impacts, and, there is bullshit research. We all know that whatever you promote is bullshit.
So there is that.

E. P. Grondine

12/11/2025 12:07:48 pm

You need to.undrrstand that many geologists are.in contact with me
Your casual.insults do not amount to much.other than as an irritant.

Paul

12/11/2025 03:45:13 pm

Eddy, Eddy, Eddy,
“many geologists”
You missed your calling. You should do stand up, or in your case, sit down comedy.
The only legitimate geologists that are “in contact” with you, are those that you habitually annoy with your nonsense.
And, truly, nonsense it is!

Kent

12/11/2025 04:23:24 pm

How many geologists does it take to cost out a gravesite? Seems like a job for the guys in the 7-11 parking lot. You should habla on over there and get an estimate. Bound to be cheaper than a degree monkey.

An Over-Educated Grunt

12/11/2025 08:55:00 am

Given that Barringer revolutionized geology, and Chixculub did it again in my lifetime, your complaint isn't that no one is interested in impact research, it's that no one is interested in your pet hypothesis. Given further that the original samples have now been called into question by one of the original authors, the reason it's not funded is probably because the consensus on tree evidence is it's a geologic Piltdown Man... or, to put it in terms you will get, a Cardiff Giant.

E.P.Grondine

12/13/2025 01:50:03 pm

You have no idea of the current research being done on impact geology
You may enjoy.my papers over on impacts over on academia or they will.give you ammunition for some insults

An Over-Educated Grunt

12/18/2025 09:18:27 am

That's where you're mistaken. Even before this, I'd reviewed everything that's not behind a paywall about the proposed YD impact and found that they had an interesting idea that had badly outrun their evidence. There's no global impact layer in that period, for instance. There are a couple possible geologic explanations for that, but they rapidly turn into special pleading and the current state of practice doesn't account for that the way we have a well documented impact layer at the K-T Boundary. Other catastrophic events have diagnostic characteristics, even when they're local events. YD claims a global effect without global evidence. With one of the original authors saying that the potential impact materials were actually industrial slag, there just isn't any gas in the tank. It was a good idea but there's nothing there.

As for your work, everything I've seen out of you has been risible, amateurish, and driven by a predetermined conclusion. On a scientific ranking, you got outscored by Andrei Lysenko.

Kent

12/18/2025 04:19:12 pm

My experience has been that when Chief advocates something, it's wrong. Seven foot Injuns, Stoney Giants, YDIE event evidence... but he makes a helluva lighter coozie.

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In Brief: Evidence for Younger Dryas Comet Impact Is Just Railroad Slag

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