Watermark: The Disaster That Changed the World and Humanity 12,000 Years Ago »

THE ECHOES OF OUR PAST

Twelve thousand years ago, the human race barely escaped annihilation when a piece of exploded star passed through our solar system, unleashing an apocalypse. Great fires raged, mountains rose and fell, a maelstrom of cosmic debris bombarded Earth, continents broke apart, and oceans swept across the land. Millions of people, animals, and plants perished almost overnight. Entire societies, cultures, and belief systems were lost forever. The resulting aftershock shaped humanity for thousands of years, and continues to haunt us to this day. This is not fiction. This is history.

THE TRUTHS OF THE PRESENT

Using authoritative source material and an understanding of mankind's aptitude for the transmission of factual knowledge through myth and legend, Joseph Christy-Vitale dramatically unveils a past unlike any proposed by either religion or science, viewing the global catastrophe as living history, since the traumatic effects of that terrible event affect us as a species even today.

THE PATHS OF THE FUTURE

Providing an insight into where our troubled view of the world originated, Watermark tells the true story of how humanity's brush with extinction still pervades our lives — and offers the first step to recovering what we lost so long ago: a healthy, balanced view of the world.

Publishers Weekly

The pyramids of Egypt and Central America; diluvial deposits high up on mountain sides; strange collections of animal bones in North American caves- Christy-Vitale, amateur scientist and travel industry consultant, believes these seemingly unconnected phenomena hint at a cosmic catastrophe 12,000 years ago: a supernova 45 light-years from Earth that shot a chunk of the star (which he calls Phaeton) into our solar system, shattering a 10th planet between Mars and Jupiter into what we know as the asteroid belt, killing off thousands of animal species and almost extinguishing an advanced human civilization. Memories of this event live on in stories of a golden age destroyed in a worldwide flood. While Christy-Vitale seems never to have met a myth he didn't like, he ignores some basic scientific facts. If a supernova had exploded in our vicinity even in the last 100,000 years, its glowing shell would still be visible. Also, supernovas don't shoot off ministars-rather, these cosmic explosions tend to pepper the surrounding cosmos with an iron isotope; scientists haven't found a layer dating from this era. There is also no evidence of a genetic "bottleneck" in humans dating back a mere 10,000 years. Christy-Vitale believes that the chunk of star dust zooming past us caused Earth to flip back and forth on its axis, resulting in, among other things, the current configuration of the continents. So much for continental drift. Christy-Vitale's scenario is an interesting one, but he seems more a New Age Erik Von Daniken than someone advancing a revisionist theory that will attract serious scientific attention. (June 1) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Contents

1. In the Beginning

2. A Fantasy for Tomorrow

3. The Tale of the Living and the Dead

The Living Evidence

The Evidence of the Dead

First Meditation

4. Phaeton, the Shining One

5. Earth's Story

Upheaval

Cosmic Assault

Ice

Scale

Second Meditation

6. Phaeton: Into the Breach

7. Our Ancient Ancestors, Part I

Myth

Paradise

Language

Health

Spirit

Domestication

Medicine

8. Phaeton, the Planet Killer

9. Our Ancient Ancestors, Part 2

Energy

Architecture

Mathematics

Astronomy

The Flood

Third Meditation

10. Phaeton and Earth

11. After the Flood

The Heroes

The Teachers

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Fourth Meditation

Chapter Sources and Notes

Acknowledgments

Index