Question

I have something that may sound ridiculous to write to you but I need to ask you. My friends and I were talking today and they told me that on May 15th, there will be a comet passing the earth, not hitting it, but its gravitational pull will stop the earth from spinning cause all these things to happen and the earth will flood and there will be earthquakes and stuff. This may sound ridiculous but it would be appretiated to get a responce back.

Don't worry, these rumors of catastrophe are not true. For months, weird stories have circulated on the Internet predicting the close passage by Earth this month of a Planet X sometimes called Niburu, or in some versions it is a giant comet or asteroid. The simple answer is that these are pure fiction. There is no such object. Also, there have been no unusual levels of earthquakes or solar flares or any other of the supposed precursors of terrestrial calamity. Contrary to what you see on some of these websites, nothing unusual is happening and scientists are not worried by such supposed events. Even more to the point, it is already evident that there is no large comet or looming planet bearing down on the Earth. If you want details on these stories about Nibiru or Planet X, check out the following website http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planetx/index.html.

David Morrison
NAI Senior Scientist
May 9, 2003