> I'm no astronomer, but I can't see how this story could be true. It seems
> to me that the only way one could even begin to make this sort of claim
> would be to have very good astronomical sightings on either side of such an
> anomalous event (along with very precise timings) and then run a computer
> model to show that somehow the motions of planets, stars, or whatever wasn't
> continuous. I don't know how anyone would have such information, so it
> seems to me that this is very likely to be another urban legend at best or
> hoax at worst.
>
> Maybe I'm missing something. Could someone tell me how one would even begin
> to use an astronomical model to make this type of a claim?
I am an astronomer, and I agree with George Parks, namely that I don't
see any way in principle to detect the missing day. The original story
described calculating back from the present time the positions of the
Sun, Moon, and planets. The program alone could never detect a discrepancy
since it only consists of the calculation (a prediction), so the story as
presented is either blatantly false or significantly incomplete. To show
a discrepancy one would have to have an accurate observation, with an
accurate, verifiable time and date. Such data certainly do not exist.
John Laird
John B. Laird phone: 419-372-7244
Department of Physics and Astronomy FAX: 419-372-9938
Bowling Green State University Internet: laird@tycho.bgsu.edu
Bowling Green, OH 43403