| The bringer of misfortune year 2012
Why did we choose this year for an attempt at debating the apocalyptic predictions located in the near future? And why would such a moment in time promise to be”extremely interesting”? We offer you a few samples, from estimates made by specialists to downright awkward stories.
Part of the first category is the theory according to which in the year 2012 we will witness an increase by 30 to 50% in the frequency of solar spots. The solar storms will lead to the failure of electric grids and severe disruptions of the GPS systems. According to the scientists from NCAR (National Centre of Atmospheric Research) in the USA, the increase in solar spots was due to start at the beginning of 2008 and reach it’s peak in 2012
However, the more popular theories are the ones that don’t have any scientific fundament, as we meet them in headlines of news all across the globe:
- 2012 - The official visit of aliens from The Globular Cluster M15.(news from the 29th July, 2005). What is this all about actually? Well M15 is the densest stellar cluster in our galaxy. It was discovered by Jean-Dominique Maraldi in 1746 and is situated approximately 33.600 light years away, approaching us at a speed of 107 km/h. It contains over 30.000 stars, such a concentration suggesting the existence of a massive black hole in its centre. Using this theory, journalists stated that M15 does not only contain a massive black hole, but that it is “the source of the most black holes in the Universe”. From here on there was only a small step to the theory of time gates opening in the cluster, thus enabling aliens to visit us.
- One interesting theory comes from the physics part of science – the ZPE – also known as the Zero Point Energy. What is ZPE? Well it is the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical physical system may have and is the energy of the ground state. It is sometimes used as a synonym for the vacuum energy, an amount of energy associated with the vacuum of empty space. The concept was first discussed by Albert Einstein and Otto Stern in 1913. It has been speculated that ZPE could be the fundament of building perpetual motion machines, thus allowing time travel. The world destruction theory that derives from ZPE is that, by building a time travelling machine a temporal wave will be disrupted, thus destroying the entire universe. This is evidently linked to the year 2012, considered to be the year in which our temporal order will be disrupted, being considered unnatural.
- Finally, a different type of story uses a relatively old but still very popular theory: under the Pyramids of Giza is hidden (buried) an ancient metropolis. That is supposedly the location of the “stone calendar” of the Great Pyramid (Kheops). The calendar is supposed to provide all the data surrounding the “Phoenix Cycle” of our galactic orbit. Translated into our, the current cycle is supposed to end in 2012.
Of course, beside all these theories, the greatest shock about 2012 is the simultaneous ending, in the exact same day of the winter solstice (21st of December 2012) of the Maya Calendar and the fourth of the yugas, one of the temporal epochs set by the Ancient Indians. But the real interesting fact is that 2012 is the year that marks the ending of a full “Great Year”, also known as the “Great Cycle”. This represents the approximately 26.000 years necessary for a full cycle generated by the succession of equinoxes.
It is widely considered that the famous Greek astronomer Hipparchos was the one that discovered this succession (in the year 128 b.C.), although it is now considered that a lot older civilisations (Egyptians, Babylonians etc.) knew about the succession. However, from the observation of changing of the equinox date, to the interpretation that this ending will mean the end of the world is a long way.
For some time now on the web has been circulating a theory according to which a rogue planet on a 3,600-year orbit is about to enter the inner solar system and visit a catastrophe upon Earth. This threatening planet was discovered by the ancient Mesopotamians, who named it Nibiru. It was known also to the Mayans, who associated it with the end—December 2012—of their “long count” calendar.
There existed a in 2003 a similar rumor of the coming destruction of our civilization. The source of this information was a specific warning said to have been sent to the people of Earth by an advanced alien civilization on a planet orbiting the star Zeta Reticuli. A woman named Nancy Lieder claimed to be channeling this information from the Zetans, who warned that a worldwide cataclysm would strike the Earth in May 2003. Phil Plait described this situation in detail on his “Badastronomy” website. As it turned out, May 2003 passed with no pole shift or other cataclysms.
Morrison is the Senior Scientist at Davidthe NASA Astrobiology Institute, where, among other things, he answers questions from the public about planet Nibiru. We are going to reproduce the funniest questions and their answers, because we obtained written permission for this. The full list of questions and answers can be found here.
Initial Questions: The Distinction between Nibiru, Planet X, and Eris
Although the name of the Sumerian god Nibiru is most often given to this object, I quickly learned that some Web sites were also calling it Planet X or Eris. Planet X is a generic term used by astronomers over the past century for any unknown or hypothesized planets beyond Pluto. Eris is an actual, newly discovered dwarf planet, a little larger than Pluto but much farther away. By conflating these, some were claiming that NASA had found Nibiru or that Eris was going to fly past Earth in 2012.
Q: I have been reading the questions and answers about Nibiru. I am glad you say it does not exist. However Eris does exist and I see they were going to call it Xena . . . planet X. On this Website when you type in Nibiru Eris comes up and it clearly states it is the 10th planet. Will Eris do a flyby since it is considered a planet and the 10th one? Is Eris coming toward us? Could this even be possible that we would be thrown off our axis? Are Pluto and others really slightly of their normal gravitational paths because of this planet that is supposedly coming toward us? Why do they say time is speeding up because of the magnetic pulse this planet is creating? Is this true that there are only really 16 hours a day now because time is moving faster? Is that possible? Why do the days seem so much shorter? I am scared about this whole 2012 thing. Eris seems to be in the position that everyone says Nibiru is and the same size. Maybe we are asking the wrong question. Maybe we should be asking about Eris and not Nibiru. Thank you for your time as I am scared to death!
A: There is no factual basis for the many Nibiru stories. This Internet chatter originated from the claim by Nancy Lieder that she was warned about this planet by aliens from the star Zeta Reticuli. In the absence of real information, however, people speculate and embellish this fictional story. One such addition is to link Nibiru with “Planet X,” a term used for many years by astronomers to refer to any unknown planet that might exist beyond Pluto. Far from being a real object, this term indicates an unknown or undiscovered object (that is why it is called “X”). Another false link is with Eris, the largest of the dwarf planets recently found beyond Neptune, designated 2003 UB313 when it was discovered in 2003. Before Eris was given its formal name, its discoverer, Mike Brown of Caltech, informally referred to it as Xena, a word play on “Planet X.” The name Eris was officially adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 2006. However, this has nothing to do with Nibiru. Nibiru is supposed to be a large planet on a highly elliptical orbit with a period of 3,600 years, which comes onto the inner solar system and will disrupt Earth in 2003 (the original claim) or 2012 (the current claim). Eris is a dwarf planet (smaller than the Moon) with a period of 557 years, currently far beyond Neptune or Pluto at a distance of about 10 billion miles. Its orbit will never bring it into the inner solar system; the closest it will come, in about 2255, is 4 billion miles. Eris does not match the fictional object Nibiru in distance, orbit, size, or any other property, and it does not threaten Earth in any way. The other items you mention from the Internet are untrue. Neither Pluto nor any other transneptunian object is deviating from its normal path. Time is not speeding up, and the days are not shorter. You know as well as I do that there are still the usual 24 hours in the day, not 16! Please don’t be scared; the entire Nibiru story, as well as any concerns about Eris threatening Earth, are a hoax, nothing more.
Q: How can you say that a pole shift is impossible? The geological record shows repeated reversals of the Earth’s magnetic field.
A: Thanks for pointing out an ambiguity concerning the term “pole shift”. As I wrote in my previous answer, everything I have seen predicting destruction from an alleged pole shift concerns the rotational pole of the Earth. There is no chance that this rotational pole will shift to a significant degree. The magnetic pole is different; it regularly shifts position by a small amount, and as you note, the polarity of the Earth’s magnetic pole reverses roughly once per million years (on average). This magnetic reversal appears to be generated internally and not to be influenced by any outside events. There is no indication that it will happen anytime soon, but more to the point, a magnetic reversal would not cause any of the horrible consequences that you find associated with “pole shift” on the catastrophist Internet sites.
Q: Now if the Nibiru topic is a hoax, then what are the infrared images of the alleged Nibiru??? And i also heard that NASA saw it with IRAS and reported it and all that.. Why does NASA deny anything about it instead of telling the public so (if Nibiru is in fact a hoax) they dont take drastic measures such as my family was planning on doing. I need more proof that Nibiru is a hoax because the government and NASA are keeping to much from us for us to make full judgement on it. . . .
A: I really am sorry that you have taken the Nibiru hoax seriously, and that this hoax is causing you and your family distress. This Nibiru stuff is all pure fiction, without any core of fact or truth. Specifically (1) The are no infrared images of Nibiru—period. (2) IRAS (the Infrared Astronomy Satellite, which carried out a sky survey for 10 months in 1983) discovered many infrared sources, but none of them was Nibiru or Planet X or any other objects in the outer solar system. (3) NASA scientists tell the truth. There is no reason why we would not do so, and besides truth-telling is a fundamental value of scientific research. (4) It is unreasonable to ask us to prove that Nibiru is a hoax. Your questions should be to Nibiru proponents to prove to you that what they are saying is true, not for NASA to prove it is false. The burden of proof falls on those who make wild claims. Remember the often-quoted comment from Carl Sagan that extraordinary claims demand extraordinary levels of evidence if they are to be believed.
This article has been translated, adapted and completed with written permission from the Romanian magazine "Science and Technology", which dedicated a whole number to the subject named "The end of the world". You can read more about this bringer of misfortune year 2012 on 2012wiki.com or you can find out how to survive 2012 from survive2012.com.
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