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Charles R. Pellegrino

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Charles R. Pellegrino (born 1953) is an American writer, the author of several books related to science and archaeology, including Return to Sodom and Gomorrah, Ghosts of the Titanic, Unearthing Atlantis, and Ghosts of Vesuvius. Errors in his book The Last Train from Hiroshima (2010) prompted its publisher to withdraw it within a few months of publication.

Early life

During the mid-1970s, Pellegrino earned bachelor's and master's degrees at Long Island University.

Scientific Contributions

Jurassic Park Recipe

In 1985, Pellegrino published the article Dinosaur Capsule in the magazine Omni in which he speculated that dinosaur DNA could be harvested from biting insects that feasted on Dinosaur blood, only to be trapped in the resin of amber, fossilizing DNA samples. He proposed the concept of reconstructing entire dinosaur genomes from such fragmentary gene sequences by PCR amplifying them, then supplementing various gaps with DNA from still-living modern relatives of dinosaurs. This concept inspired Dr. Michael Crichton, who cites Pellegrino in his famous Jurassic Park book series as the originator of the concept on which the novels, and later Stephen Spielberg movies, build upon.

Titanic

Pellegrino has dived to the wreck of the RMS Titanic on two expeditions: The first being George Tulloch's 1996 RMS Titanic, Inc. expedition, and again for James Cameron's 2001 Ghosts of the Abyss expedition, for which the documentary movie and book of the same name were subsequently released in 2003. The latter expedition is notable for Pellegrino having surfaced from the dive to the Titanic's stern section into news of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Downblast Theory

In 1985, while sailing with Navy explorer and discoverer of the Titanic Dr. Robert Ballard on the Melville to the East Pacific Rise, Pellegrino reviewed preliminary footage of the RMS Titanic's wreck. He noted that decks at the aft end of the Titanic's bow section were "pancaked down like an accordion" upon one another, while the stern likewise suffered extensive damage. Pellegrino had simulated the sinking of the Titanic with a plastic model and red dust in a pool, noting a curious "slipsteam" of water following the wreck to the bottom, impacting the sunken model after it settled and proceeding to spread out. He called this force of water dragged down with the wreck "Downblast" and proposed it as an explanation for mysterious damage to the Titanic unaccounted for strictly by the sinking. Dr. Ballard credits Pellegrino with the Downblast theory in his book The Discovery of the Titanic . Pellegrino also mentions the theory in his book Ghosts of the Titanic published in 2000.

In 2010, RMS Titanic, Inc. conducted an extensive sonar map survey of the Titanic wreck and debris field, which noted Downblast patterns in the seabed around the Titanic, as well as patterns of damage to the ship itself, which confirmed the Downblast Theory. Naval engineer Parks Stephenson wrote the following, of the Downblast Theory, on his Titanic analysis Facebook page:

...you can see the downblast effect dramatically in the patterns etched into the ocean floor. The circular pattern left by the disturbed water on the bottom around the stern section is a forensic indicator about the movement of the stern before impact. On the wreck itself, the most obvious indicator to me was the trunk of a mushroom vent blown FORWARD and outboard against a forecastle stanchion with such force that it wrapped around that stanchion.

Rusticles

Pellegrino has also published several peer-reviewed research articles alongside Dr. Roy Cullimore, regarding the Microbiology of Rusticles. These include:

  • RMS Titanic and the emergence of new concepts on consortial nature of microbial events ( Cullimore DR, Pellegrino C, Johnston L. RMS Titanic and the emergence of new concepts on consortial nature of microbial events. Rev Environ Contam Toxicol. 2002;173:117-41. PMID: 11776749.)
  • The rebirth of the RMS Titanic, a study of the bioarcheology of a physically disrupted sunken vessel. Voyage 25, June 25:39–46

The Europa Theory and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Alongside his co-author Dr. Jesse Stoff, Pellegrino has extensively studied Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, in their book by the same name.

Together, Pellegrino and Stoff also proposed gravitational and tidal influence calculations that predicted oceans beneath the frozen surfaces of Jovian ice moons. It was this prediction that intrigued explorer Robert Ballard to invite Pellegrino to sail with his team to the East Pacific Rise expedition on the Melville, shortly after Ballard had discovered the Titanic in 1985. The theories were originally suggested in their joint book Darwin's Universe.

Controversies

Last Train from Hiroshima

Main article: The Last Train From Hiroshima

In January 2010, Henry Holt published Pellegrino's Last Train from Hiroshima, a look at the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima from the vantage of survivors.

The New York Times initially praised the book as "sober and authoritative" and as a "firm and compelling synthesis of earlier memoirs and archival material". Nevertheless, a month later the New York Times questioned claims made in Pellegrino's book:

claims to reveal a secret accident with the atom bomb that killed one American and irradiated others and greatly reduced the weapon’s destructive power… There is just one problem. That section of the book and other technical details of the mission are based on the recollections of Joseph Fuoco, who is described as a last-minute substitute on one of the two observation planes that escorted the Enola Gay… But Mr. Fuoco… never flew on the bombing run, and he never substituted for James R. Corliss, the plane’s regular flight engineer, Mr. Corliss’s family says. They, along with angry ranks of scientists, historians and veterans, are denouncing the book and calling Mr. Fuoco an impostor.

Veterans of the 509th Operations Group, the Air Force unit which dropped the atomic bombs, issued a detailed list of substantive problems with many of the book's claims about the bomb and the Air Force personnel involved.

The New York Times added, "Facing a national outcry and the Corliss family’s evidence, the author, Charles Pellegrino, now concedes that he was probably duped. . . . e said he would rewrite sections of the book for paperback and foreign editions." Despite Pellegrino's claim in The New York Times that he had been "duped" by Fuoco, further investigation revealed that Pellegrino had repeatedly mentioned one of the book's most disputed claims (a supposedly fatal accident at Tinian Island on 4 August 1945) before Mr. Fuoco had allegedly confided it for him. Doubts also arose about the existence of two westerners allegedly present in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing.

On 1 March 2010, Henry Holt announced it had halted publication of Last Train from Hiroshima.

Pellegrino subsequently revised the text to remove some of the disputed content. The book was retitled "To Hell and Back" and released by a different publisher in 2015.

Works

The Jesus Family Tomb: The Discovery, the Investigation, and the Evidence That Could Change History (2007) (co-authored with Simcha Jacobovici) was a companion book to the Discovery Channel documentary on the same subject created in part by film director James Cameron.

Bibliography

Non-fiction

  • Time Gate: Hurtling Backward Through History (1983)
  • Darwin's Universe: Origins and Crises in the History of Life (with Jesse A. Stoff, 1983)
  • Chariots for Apollo: The Untold Story Behind the Race to the Moon (with Joshua Stoff, 1985)
  • Interstellar Travel and Communication (with James Powell and Isaac Asimov, et al., 1986)
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Hidden Epidemic (with Jesse A. Stoff, 1988)
  • Her Name, Titanic: Untold Story of the Sinking and Finding of the Unsinkable Ship (1988)
  • Unearthing Atlantis: An Archaeological Odyssey (1991)
  • Return to Sodom and Gomorrah: Bible Stories from Archaeologists (1994)
  • Ghosts of the Titanic (2000)
  • Ghosts of Vesuvius: A New Look at the Last Days of Pompeii, How Towers Fall, and Other Strange Connections (2004)
  • The Jesus Family Tomb: The Discovery, the Investigation, and the Evidence That Could Change History (with Simcha Jacobovici, 2007)
  • The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back (Henry Holt, 2010)
  • "Farewell, Titanic: Her Final Legacy," (Foreword by Tom Dettweiler), John Wiley & Sons, N.J. (2012).
  • "The Californian Incident," Shoebox/Kindle, Canada (2013).
  • "StarTram: The New Race for Space." (with James Powell, George Maise) Shoebox/Kindle, Canada (2013).

Fiction

Filmography

  • Lost Civilizations: Aegean - Legacy of Atlantis - Time-Life / NBC (1995).
Re-released on October 1, 2002 as part of a 4-DVD set entitled Time Life's Lost Civilizations.

References

  1. Rich, Motoko (5 March 2010). "University Rejects Pellegrino Claim in Degree Dispute". The New York Times. New York.
  2. Malcolm W. Browne (15 September 1992). "40-Million-Year-Old Extinct Bee Yields Oldest Genetic Material". The New York Times.
  3. Malcolm W. Browne (15 June 2018). "Jurassic Park's Unlikely Symbiosis With Real-World Science". Smithsonian Magazine.
  4. Dr. Robert Ballard (1987). The Discovery of the Titanic. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  5. {{cite web| url=https://www.facebook.com/sparks401/posts/902306126904567 |title=Parks Stephenson - Titanic |last=Stephenson|first=Parks |date=2020-06-27
  6. Pellegrino, Charles (27 June 2020). "RMS Titanic and the emergence of new concepts on consortial nature of microbial events".
  7. Charles R. Pellegrino and Jesse Stoff (1987). Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Hidden Epidemic. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  8. Pellegrino, Charles (20 November 2019). "The oceans of the Moons".
  9. Dwight Garner (20 January 2010). "After Atom Bombs' Shock, the Real Horrors Began Unfolding". The New York Times.
  10. ^ William J. Broad (20 February 2010). "Doubts Raised on Book's Tale of Atom Bomb". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  11. Krauss, Robert W. (February 2010). "Atomic Veterans Incensed over False Claims in New Book" (PDF). Veterans of the 509th Composite Group (EnolaGay509th.com). Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  12. "Amazon.com: Customer Discussions". 23 February 2010.
  13. "Coast to Coast AM Radio: Interview with Charles Pellegrino". Coast to Coast AM. February 2010 – via YouTube.
  14. ^ Lundin, Leigh (7 March 2010). "Fact, Fiction, Fakery". Literary Scandals. Criminal Brief.
  15. Pellegrino, Charles R. (6 August 2015). To Hell and Back: The Last Train from Hiroshima. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1442250581.
  16. Pellegrino, Charles R. Time Gate: Hurtling Backward Through History. Paperback ed. Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: Tab Books, 1985. ISBN 0-8306-1863-5
  17. Pellegrino, Charles R. and Stoff, Jesse A. Darwin's Universe: Origins and Crises in the History of Life. 2d ed. Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: Tab Books, 1986. ISBN 0-8306-2773-1
  18. Pellegrino, Charles R. and Stoff, Joshua. Chariots for Apollo: The Untold Story Behind the Race to the Moon. New York: Quill, 1999. ISBN 0-380-80261-9
  19. Asimov, Pellegrino, Powell and others edited this work, which is a collection of papers from the American Association for the Advancement of Science May 1986 symposium, Interstellar Travel and Communication. See: "Bibliography." In Charles R. Pellegrino and George Zebrowski. Dyson Sphere. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999. ISBN 0-671-54173-0
  20. Stoff, Jesse A. and Pellegrino, Charles R. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Hidden Epidemic. 2d rev. ed. New York: Harper Perennial, 1992. ISBN 0-06-092260-5
  21. Pellgrino, Charles R. Her Name, Titanic: Untold Story of the Sinking and Finding of the Unsinkable Ship. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Robert Hale Ltd., 1990. ISBN 0-7090-4242-6
  22. Pellegrino, Charles R. Unearthing Atlantis: An Archaeological Odyssey. New York: Vintage, 1993. ISBN 0-679-73407-4
  23. Pellegrino, Charles R. Return to Sodom and Gomorrah: Bible Stories from Archaeologists. 2d paperback ed. New York: Harper Paperbacks, 1995. ISBN 0-380-72633-5
  24. Pellegrino, Charles R. Ghosts of the Titanic. New York: Avon, 2001. ISBN 0-380-72472-3
  25. Pellegrino, Charles R. Ghosts of Vesuvius: A New Look at the Last Days of Pompeii, How Towers Fall, and Other Strange Connections. Paperback ed. New York: Harper Perennial, 2005. ISBN 0-06-075100-2
  26. Jacobovici, Simcha and Pellegrino, Charles R. The Jesus Family Tomb: The Discovery, the Investigation, and the Evidence That Could Change History. Paperback ed. New York: HarperOne, 2008. ISBN 0-06-120534-6
  27. Pellegrino, Charles R. Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2010. ISBN 0-8050-8796-6
  28. "Movies: About Lost Civilizations: Aegean - Legacy of Atlantis". The New York Times.
  29. `Lost Civilizations' Uses Modern Ways To Tell Ancient Tales - Chicago Sun-Times | Encyclopedia.com

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