I was just reading an article about a new comet sighting and the news article reported as fact the same stuff I have heard for more than 50 years about comet tails being "blown" by solar wind, indicating that the tail always points away from the sun as some sort of proof of the existance of "solar wind".

I think this is a garbage theory. I think a far more plausible theory can be understood and argued by living (as I do) in the colder climates found nearer the north and south poles.

We experience a phenomenon we call "ice fog" in Alaska. The water molecules found in normal fog become ice crystals in the super cold of 40 to 50 degrees below zero. Each crystal is almost identical to the next. As these crystals float about they align themselves (I assume due to gravity) in such a manner that the light emanating from street lights causes a "tail" similar to what you see on a comet to tail off into the sky, sometimes appearing to be miles long. The street lights point at the ground and have a shield to prevent the light from shining into the sky. The only possible explanation for the apparent "tail" of light going into the sky is that the crystals of ice are refracting the light which is coming toward the viewer in a manner to cause an optical illusion. Street lights which are out of alignment have a "tail" which is correspondingly out of alignment and their "tail" points away from the direction of their light source.

I believe a “fog” of ice crystals surrounding a comet causes the apparent “tail” on a comet. I believe the ice crystals are hovering around the comet, held there by the miniscule gravity of the core of the comet, and that the crystals are aligned with each other by similar forces which cause the ice crystals in the ice fog I see regularly to align with each other. Thus the end of the "tail" of a comet can appear to move millions of miles in just a few days as the comet moves around the sun. In a similar manner, I can cause the "tail" of light which appears to emanate from the wrong end of a flashlight shone in an ice fog to appear to move hundreds of miles per hour by simply tipping the flashlight.

If the "tail" of a comet were to operate as explained by my science book it would run out of matter as it constantly fed material into its "tail" which is blown away by solar wind.

That’s why I think the ages old theory of the comet tail should be considered the comet "tale". Please don't believe the stories or "tales" passed off as absolute fact by the media and by science books. Look at what surrounds you, and apply a little logic to the "tales" being told to you.