AN invisible planet that has no gravity will crash into the Earth on September 23, believers assert. But will anybody even notice?
Conspiracy theorists say the coming solar eclipse in the northern hemisphere heralds the ‘arrival’ of an apocalyptic prophecy.
David Meade, who has published a book on the subject (yes, there’s still time to rush out and buy it), says he has found biblical passages pointing to the coming celestial catastrophe.
But prophecy isn’t an exact science.
Planet Nibiru: Will anyone notice when worlds collide on September 23?
INVISIBLE WANDERER
Nibiru — a mythical ‘wandering’ planet, lost in our solar system — is supposed to have hit us before. It had been tied to the 2012 Mayan “Year Zero” apocalypse, which never happened.
The planet has never been seen by astronomers, who have in recent decades completed several full-sky surveys. As it gets closer, it should at least be blocking out the stars behind it - if not reflecting some of the Sun’s light.
Nor has its gravitational pull been observed on other celestial bodies — something that would enable astronomers to figure out where to look.
Also sometimes called “Planet X” and tied to the real astronomical mystery of “Planet IX” — whose existence is inferred by the way its gravity appears to be tossing about asteroids far beyond Pluto in the Kuiper Belt — the idea of such a world gained popularity in the 1973 book “The 12th Planet”. Author Zecharia Sitchin said it was the home of an ancient race of aliens — though how they could survive such an erratic orbit was overlooked.