Millenium Comet and Indonesia

[The Whisperer]

Hi All,

I should have posted in the Innocents first but I thought I'd just jump in with a question and a referecne. I was thinking about The Beginning and the End and the Polaroid man's reference to the Millennium Comet and the Sailendra Kingdon in Java, Indonesia, where I live. See below from the transcript:

POLAROID MAN: Oh, man. You should hear about this. This is important.

COP: Why's that?

POLAROID MAN: Oh, its scientific name is P1997-Vanson-West. We discovered it about six months ago, but it's always been there. Always.

[The cop is shining a flashlight over the car, its wheels, etc.]

POLAROID MAN: Its orbit is nearly a thousand years old. The Millennium Comet. Last couple of times around it could only be seen near equatorial locations so all the great civilizations missed it, but it was there. It was there.

[The cop lifts up a corner of the cover on the back of the truck.]

POLAROID MAN: The Mayans saw it, just before a plague wiped out half their civilization. The Sailendra Kingdom saw it just before Tangkuban Perahu erupted.

You may all be aware that Mount Merapi in Central Java recently erupted with devastating results and many deaths. I was wondering whether it wasn't Merapi and not Tangkuban Perahu that caused the Sailndra to vacate the volcanic slopes. Tangkuban Perahu is hundreds of kilometers further west, in West Java, close to Bandung. Merapi is just on the outskirts of what is now Yogyakarta in Central Java. I believe the Sailendra were a Central Java civilisation.

I know we have others here from Indonesia, hi. This just struck me as interesting. Any ideas anyone?

Anyway, I am working my way through the complete box set...

[Walkabout]

Glad you made your first post !

I think this would make for some interesting research. Perhaps you could find some in historical archives in your local libraries if not on the internet. While the writers did for the most part seem to do excellent research its posible due to time restraints or [unavailable material] this was not thoroughly investigated. If you do find supporting [or non-supporting] information please share it with the board.

[The Whisperer]

Glad you made your first post !

I think this would make for some interesting research. Perhaps you could find some in historical archives in your local libraries if not on the internet. While the writers did for the most part seem to do excellent research its posible due to time restraints or [unavailable material] this was not thoroughly investigated. If you do find supporting [or non-supporting] information please share it with the board.

Thanks Walkabout, it's good to be here.

The Javanese civilizations are of quite some interest to me. Their cultural values still resonate in today's Indonesia. When I saw the reference on the episode I did a little internet research but it didn't yield anything conclusive (yet). I'll let you know though...

By the way, I first watched Millennium when it was first shown back in the 90s, and had seen reruns until I bought the box set. I have quite a few points to make and will do so in time. I am looking forward to reading VS4 and 5 too.

Thanks again, the time is near...

[Earthnut]

And what a good post it is Whisperer. Great to have you with us.

[The Old Man]

Great post! Welcome to TIWWA!