Astronomers....Debunk this 'End of World Coming' claim

[Magical]

http://www.bushcountry.org/news/may_news_pages/g_051604_assiebloke_end_world.htm

No flames, please.

[trotsky]

1. I recall a similar "end of the world" prophecy

Complete with authentic NASA photos "showing" that the sun had steered a huge comet directly at us. I believe Snopes debunked it then.

On edit: I see there is a paranoid reference to needing missile defense in order to "shoot the bloody things down". Newsflash: if something is close enough to be hit with a missile defense system, you aren't going to destroy it in time.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. He cites "God's Plan for Salvation"

He needs to try "God's Plan for Mental Health" first.

Looks like another wacky guy whose panic disorder has been activated by misreading some reports of Near-Earth Objects.

Nibiru / Planet X was supposed to be here last year. You'd think they'd learn.

--bkl

[Birthmark]

3. Debunk what?

It's simply rubbish. I can probably go into detail on any specifics that you find worrisome.

[Leprechan29]

4. I've only read a bit but:

If he says we have about 6 to eight weeks left before it hits, and he says it is coming right at us, that mean that an angle of approach would not be as curved as if it were farther away (Parabolic approach). Because of this, it would be nearly impossible for an amateur astronomer to predict the size and shape of this "cloud of debris". His prediction that the bombarment would last "a week at most" would therefore be impossible to make, since with a single telescope (I will assume this since he is likely an amateur, therefore a possible flaw in my argument). It would be like looking at things with one eye closed - no depth perception with which he might be able to determine how large the cloud is.

Ive read only a bit so far, and thats what I've come up with.


EDIT: He says that the debris might be from the crab nebula - Maybe I am mistaken, but isn't the crab nebula a ways away - as in thousands, if not millions of light years away?

EDIT II: His link saying that the skies have darkened - maybe a little phenomenon called pollution is responsible. Or just a drop in sun activity - It does go in cycles...

And that thing about the crab nebula being a distraction: All I have to say is this: What is he saying?????

[pw]

6. I slogged through the whole thing

and the only factual claim I could find that was even well-formed enought to be wrong was this bizarre cloud of "interstellar dust" that somehow shrouds the objects inside it from view, but isn't visible itself because it doesn't reflect any light. In addition to not reflecting any light, I guess it miraculously doesn't block any light coming in from stars or planets behind it from our point of view.

[dubyaD40web]

5. That some funny stuff

This guy needs to update his prescription and get some stronger meds.

[Speck Tater]

7. I've awaited the end of the world on at least 10 occaisions

The first one I really remember was in 1959. Since then, every so often someone climbs out of the ground (along with the Cicadas maybe?) and starts trumpeting the end of the world. Seems like the Hale-Bopp comet was the most recent one. Didn't Art Bell have a bunch of "proof" on his web site that Hale-Bopp was being guided here by aliens?

I guess we're over due for yet another end-of-the-world mania.

Here's a link to an interestying article about the end of the world in 1962, 1982, 1988, and 2000, to mention just a few of the times the world was scheduled to end. http://www.skeptic.com/04.4.mosley-millennium.html

And here is an interseting article on "Fear of the Apocalypse". http://www.csicop.org/si/9901/apocalypse.html

[Bamboo]

8. A Grain of Sand on the Beach of Time.

The people who believe we are living in special times when special things happen want to feel important.If they are the generation alive during the rapture then they are part of the in-crowd,it is like being invited to a cool high school party.People who fool themselves in order to get this feeling of superiority do not feel good about themselves in normal life.By the standards of human history life now is good but they want that last mile which is very selfish.They look at life in zero-sum terms,winner-loser,saved-damned because our society works that way.I do not blame them but the society which makes regular people feel like nothing so they fantasize about being celebrities or getting killed like a summer blockbuster.One needs a continual fix after getting hooked which has made Art Bell a rich guy.Most of them die on Monday pushing on the toilet.

[Nevernose]

9. And we wonder why people vote for Bush?

This "article" pretty much cinches it -- they're fucking loonies!

[johnnie]

10. Actually, I find some of this stuff pretty interesting

I read this yesterday and the site has added more information. But to read about the shit that hit over Seattle yesterday made me think of this post again.

[cmf]

13. I read this thread yesterday

And then turn on NPR this morning to the news of "flashes of light and booms" locally. I didn't hear or see it, because it was in the middle of the night, but people are puzzled. It really made me think.

[TrogL]

11. Barking mad

I'm an amateur astronomer and keep my ear close to the ground on these issues.

Haven't heard a thing.

There's always a comet or two in the sky. You just need a really powerful telescope to see them.

If there really was an interstellar dust cloud headed this way the whole sky would be lit up like a Christmas tree.

[pmbryant]

14. Beyond barking mad

I'm ashamed I actually spent a couple minutes looking at that. It's so over-the-top, it actually sounds like a parody.

Astronomers aren't needed to debunk this, just normal common sense.

--Peter

[Viking12]

12. Everyone knows the end is not until 2012...

so just chill out :)