Comet Collisions

* Although not of the same cosmic significance as the Simpson trial, the comet that collided into Jupiter had to be the story of the week (“Jupiter Takes Huge Blow From Comet,” July 19). Especially interesting--although, again, not quite as interesting as the O.J. Simpson trial--was the fact that one comet fragment created a plume with a width (9,600 miles) greater than the diameter of the Earth; I found this to be a precautionary item worth noting.

Because, I feel, it would be particularly unpleasant to live through such a plume, I propose we not procrastinate, but immediately begin construction of three large baseball gloves to orbit above the Earth; attached to each glove would be a long rope for hauling, which would allow for easy fielding by a NASA Shuttle craft.

This plan would also provide great cost-saving advantages over other messy solutions such as nuclear missiles or photon torpedoes--which I studied in junior college. Once completed, we could then rest easy, and again focus our attention on the things that really matter, such as the Simpson trial--did I mention the Simpson trial?

RAY ROBBINS

Los Angeles

* Forty years ago, Immanuel Velikovsky proposed cataclysmic collisions between plants and comets in his books “Worlds in Collision” and “Earth in Upheaval.” His theories were ridiculed by the orthodox scientific community. Though many of his interpretations and details were not right, his concepts seem to be verified by what we saw on Jupiter. Isn’t it time to reopen the books on Velikovsky?

ERNO S. DANIEL

Santa Barbara

* The old saying, the sky is going to fall, came true finally. Luckily it is falling on Jupiter, not on our Earth.

SANTOSH KUMAR

Downey