Joe Rogan Experience #2548 - Brian Simpson · Aired Sep 1, 2026
Claim summary · not a verbatim quotation
Core samples from 11,800 years ago found globally contain iridium and microdiamonds, which are evidence of a comet impact.
The finding
What the evidence shows
This points to a real idea, the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis, and a small number of research teams have reported iridium and nanodiamonds in sediment layers from around that time. But the claim presents this as settled global evidence, when most other researchers have not been able to reproduce the key nanodiamond findings, and a comprehensive 2023 review concluded the methods were flawed and the observations irreproducible. Mainstream geologists largely reject the hypothesis rather than treat it as confirmed proof of a comet impact.
Read the supporting source · skepticalinquirer.org ↗Quick answer & review status
Quick answer
Is it true that Core samples from 11,800 years ago found globally contain iridium and microdiamonds, which are evidence of a comet impact?
Partly. The claim stretches what the evidence shows. This points to a real idea, the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis, and a small number of research teams have reported iridium and nanodiamonds in sediment layers from around that time. Joe Rogan said it (matched by voice) on Joe Rogan Experience #2548 - Brian Simpson, aired Sep 1, 2026, at 1:45:40. The supporting source is skepticalinquirer.org, linked below.
The context belongs here.
No separately verified on-air correction is recorded for this check. That is not a claim that nobody corrected it.
- Attribution
- Not independently confirmed in this record
- Editorial context review
- Not recorded; generated finding
- Coverage
- One selected claim from the episode
Revisions to this check
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