"All Human Life on Our Planet Will Then Be Snuffed Out": The Halley's Comet Panic of 1910
Although ATLAS, dubbed the "Halloween Comet," disintegrated before having the opportunity to spook anyone, the return of Halley's Comet in the late spring of 1910 certainly caused a sensational fright. More specifically, the return of Halley's Comet and the outlandish prognostications of French astronomer Camille Flammarion caused a sensational fright.
On January 23, 1910, The Sunday Herald pondered, "What will happen if Halley's comet strikes the earth on its trip round the sun?" Flammarion, after admitting he was uncertain of the results of such a collision, offered an array of possible outcomes:
The poisoning of the human race by deleterious gases...is not probable. Yet if the oxygen of our atmosphere were to combine with the hydrogen of the comet's tail, the earth's population would be suffocated in short order. If, on the other hand, the encounter were to result in a diminution of our supply of nitrogen, every human being on the earth would have his physical activity stimulated, and the race would perish in a paroxysm of mad and joyful delirium, and would even welcome so enchanting an end.
Were the product of collision, on the other hand, oxide of carbon, everybody's lungs would be poisoned. Spectrum analysis does not yet show us what elements prevail in the tail of the comet, though the more frequent in such bodies are the hydrocarburets of notrogen [sic].
By early February he proposed a more circumspect perspective of the comet's passage than he had a week earlier:
For several hours...we will be immersed in the gaseous caudal appendage whose chemical constitution is still little known. The comet will pass directly between the sun and the world at 2 o'clock in the morning of May 19. At that hour the Pacific Ocean will be in full daylight while in France it will be night. Little danger may be expected, however, for the tail will probably be so rarified as to be inoffensive. (1)
However, Flammarion's newfound circumspection seems to have waned in the coming days. The Seattle Daily Times reported, Flammarion "does not predict any dire disasters for that particular day, but he expects some interesting developments. Evidently, it will be an opportunity for the dwellers upon the Earth to shake hands with the residents of another sphere which is just ‘passing through'."
The discovery of cyanide gas in the comet's tail changed his outlook considerably. On February 8, the Riverside Daily Press quoted Flammarion saying:
It has been established that the cyanogent [sic] bands show plainly in the comet's spectra as studied at the Yerkes observatory. The fact was made known to Camille Flammarion, the French scientist, who ventured the opinion that this gas is colorless, poisonous and of an almond like odor, and that it may possibly destroy all life on the earth.
In the face of opposing scientific perspectives, Flammarion stood by his alarmist position, stating in early April:
The tail of Halley's comet, so the spectroscope shows us, contains cyanogen gas in immense quantities. Cynogen [sic] is a very deadly poison. A grain of its potassium salt touched to the tongue is enough to cause instant death. The orbit of Halley's comet and our earth as is well known, cross each other. Should our earth have to pass through the comet's tail, the cyanogen gas in it will impregnate our atmosphere. All human life on our planet will then be snuffed out.
By mid-May concerns of the end of the world, whether by poisoning or through a collision, had become ubiquitous. From Atlanta, Georgia it was reported:
A strange sect, numbering 300, who live in the hills outside of Atlanta, today barricaded themselves in a cave there. They declare that the end of the world will come tonight, and they will spend the intervening time in prayer.
The panic over the approach of the comet has spread to the convicts in the federal prison here. For the first time in the history of the prison a class of convicts was confirmed today by the Catholic bishop of this diocese, assisted by a number of priests. (2)
And from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania:
Thousands of anthracite mine workers, fearing the comet's tail would destroy the earth, refused to work today. (3)
Others, though, were skeptical of the reported danger and took a humorous approach:
Possibly we have been tearing along through a great volume of cyanogen gas several hours already. If your neighbor is unusually boisterous this evening and disturbs you with noisy guffaws don't make sarcastic allusions to Goldsmith's lines about the "Loud laugh that marks the vacant mind." It may be that it is merely the comet's tail that is responsible for his good nature. The tail is composed of cyanogen gas, you know, and cyanogen gas is "laughing gas."
After the comet passed harmlessly by the earth, the Plain Dealer observed, "Cyanogen gas seems to bear a close resemblance to ordinary hot air" before asking, "What's your next scare, Mr. Flammarion?" (4)
Happy Halloween!
Discover more stories about how people and communities reacted to the unknown in Early American Newspapers, 1690-1922.
- "Comet's Tail Cracks over Earth May 19", The Seattle Daily Times, Seattle, Washington February 1, 1910. Early American Newspapers, 1690-1922.
- "Convicts Fear Comet", Trenton Evening Times, Trenton, New Jersey, May 18, 1910. Early American Newspapers, 1690-1922.
- "Miners Forsake Shafts", Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, May 19, 1910. Early American Newspapers, 1690-1922.
- "Uncle" Joe; Ballinger; Closer", Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, May 20, 1910. Early American Newspapers, 1690-1922.
