Great Chicago Fire 1871
© Chicago Now
Could a comet have caused the Great Chicago Fire of 1871? For three days, October 8-10, 1871, Chicago was burning. It was a rain of fire and terror as the wood buildings burned to the ground.

Ironically, the O'Leary house (Mrs. O'Leary of the famous cow and lantern theory) was left standing on DeKoven Street. The Water Tower also remained. Most of what was then Chicago was in ruins.

At the same time, there were fires burning in other parts of llinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. The Great Peshtigo Fire (in Peshtigo, Wisconsin) is still considered one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history.

There were also fires in Urbana, Illinois and Holland, Michigan.

Could they all be attributed to weather conditions? It had been a hot, dry summer throughout the Midwest. It was a hot, dry and windy autumn day. One spark could have started a fire!

Is there a possible extraterrestrial explanation?

According to Wikipedia there is the comet theory. The fragments of Comet Biela breaking up in the atmosphere may have caused a meteor shower along Lake Michigan, Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

While this theory is also highly contested, it sounds alot like Tunguska to me!

One must be careful, however, to examine the evidence. Further research is needed. But this has, as they say, sparked my interest......