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The Planet X Saga: Introduction
Introduction
Doomsayers seem to pop up every few years. Last time, it
was the alignment of the planets that somehow managed
not to destroy the Earth in May 2000.
Now, we have Planet X. A few people are claiming that a heretofore
unknown planet in our solar system is on a very long, elliptical
orbit. In May 2003, it will pass close enough to the
Earth to affect it in some way, causing it to flip over (what many call
a "pole shift") and spur many other huge disasters. The
end result will be the deaths of many billions of people. There
are a large number of web pages, chat rooms and books about
Planet X and its horrible effects on the Earth. So the question is,
does this planet exist, and will it come by in May 2003 and
cause all this horror?
No, and no.
As much as I know anything in science, I know that there is no Planet X as described by this latest crop of Chicken Littles. How do I know this? Well, we'll have to look a little bit at the claims of the people doing the doomsaying, and why what they say is patently false. Along the way, I'll be talking about gravity, orbits, brown dwarfs, and why speculation is a great way to enflame emotions, but a terrible way to get the truth.
To make it easier to navigate, I have divided my arguments into separate pages. To find your way around, use the table of contents at the top of this page. There will be a link back to it at the top and bottom of every page.
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