DETAILS
First, we are going
to identify the claims made by Mark Sircus on his blog: [1]
1)
"A planetary event
was in store for us in 2012".
2)
Looking at the NASA
mathematical model of comet Elenin:[2]
"I found out that a large
celestial body has already
penetrated the solar system and is on course for a near and possibly
horrific
encounter with the earth in the fall of 2011".
3)
"We do not know the
size and mass of comet Elenin".
4)
"On its way out it
will cross our bow, meaning it will pass
very close to the earth and the earth will pass behind it, plowing into
its
tail".
5)
"Every time this
celestial body comes into alignment with the
earth and sun we have a huge earthquake. The last three alignments
produced the
Japanese 9.0 quake, the one in New Zealand and before that the one in
Chile. On
March 11th".
6)
"The main point to
understand is that if Elenin was just a
normal comet it would not have the mass to generate a
gravity
pull that would affect the earth when the earth swings around into
alignment".
7)
Elenin = brown
dwarf/Nibiru/Planet X
Evaluating
his statements in
his blog, we have the following
assessment:
Sircus said:
1) A
planetary event was in store for us in 2012
and
7)
Elenin
= brown
dwarf /Nibiru/Planet X:
Sircus concluded:
“Back in January, while
investigating the underground city
that is alleged to have been built under the new Denver Airport,
reported on by
the former governor Jesse Ventura, I put the puzzle together and came
to the
conclusion that a planetary event was in store for us in 2012”[3]
There are other people
with the
same belief:
It is said that:
"A secret document prepared for
Prime Minister Putin by
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is claiming that President
Medvedev
confirmed in his extended meeting [4] with Pope Benedict
XVI yesterday that the new planet named Tyche [5] (pronounced ty-kee) by NASA
will be appearing in the Earth’s
night sky by 2012." [6]
Another report states: [7]
"Earth-Issues [8] posting about a chilling
report prepared for President Medvedev
by Minister Serdyukov of the Russian Defense Ministry on the
building
of an additional 5,000 underground ‘bomb’ shelters [9] in Moscow warns that even
though progress is being made, the
appearance of the new Comet Elenin in our Solar System means
“additional
resources” will have to be added “immediately”
as the 2012 timeline for completion “may not be soon
enough”. Sparking the fears of Minister Serdyukov, he says in this
report,
is that based upon the new orbit
calculations for Comet Elenin, it appears in “all
likelihood” that
this celestial object is under some type of “intelligent
control” and will approach our Earth “much
closer” than originally thought this coming fall season".
“Most ominous in Minister
Serdyukov’s report is his
assertion that Comet Elenin appears to be in “direct contact” with
the
mysterious Jupiter-sized planet discovered beyond the orbit of Pluto
that is,
also, headed inbound towards our Sun. American scientists Daniel
Whitmire
and John Matese from the University of Louisiana [10] at Lafayette have named this
mysterious planet Tyche".
The problem with this
report is
that, although Matese first
proposed the existence of this planet in 1999, there is not yet any
physical
confirmation that Tyche exists as a real body beyond the orbit of
Pluto.
Several reports discuss the theory of Daniel Whitmire and John Matese,
and
describe Tyche as a hypothesized gas giant [11] planet. [12] [13]
Moreover, the “Planet X”
theory
is about the possible
existence of a planet or brown dwarf that, because of its great mass,
"pushes" comets into our solar system. Both Whitmire and Matese are
waiting for data from the NASA space telescope, WISE (Wide-Field
Infrared
Survey Explorer). [14] This data, which was
scheduled to be released in April, 2011, could confirm or disprove
their
theory.
Whitmire and Matese have
said nothing about a body colliding or passing
near
Earth. They had stated that the body they are looking for could have
satellites, but that does not mean that there is a Tyche/Planet
X/Nibiru satellite/comet coming to Earth’s neighborhood.
It may be that any
celestial
body that might affect
our solar system in 2012 will be labeled as “Planet X”. For example,
there is
this claim:
"Comet Elenin is being pushed
by something else and
whatever it is… it is huge. Comet Elenin will not hit Earth, but
another object
about 800 meters wide will hit earth in the fall of 2012. It was
discovered by
a telescope in Antarctica". [15]
Another article makes a
similar
claim of pending disaster: [16]
"A University of British
Columbia Professor published
an online article that projected an 800m asteroid would hit Antarctica
in the
fall of 2012. His article was on the www.phas.ubc.ca website for 2 days
before
it abruptly disappeared. The initial data was gathered by The
Balloon-borne
Large-Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) at McMurdo Station,
Antarctica. The theorized asteroid was then tracked by
Canada-France-Hawaii
Telescope on Mauna Kea, which (with the Adaptive Optics Bonnette)
supplies
probably the sharpest images currently obtainable from the ground.”
“One week after this
mysterious
article disappeared, “Canadian
and American astronauts say the world needs to prepare for the big one
— the
asteroid impact that could one day devastate the Earth. Veteran
Canadian
astronaut Chris Hadfield is president of the Association of Space
Explorers,
which has prepared a detailed report on the asteroid threat. The
Canadian Space Agency intends to
launch NEOSSat next March to look for asteroids that may be hiding near
the
sun."
Meanwhile, in his blog,
Mark
Sircus said:
"There is a history to Elenin
that has been visible for
years but now she is upon us and there is nothing we can do ....The
below video
displays what has been known by NASA for decades." [17]
The title of the video he
refers to is: "Nibiru -
Planet X - Hercolubus - The Evidence!" At the end of the video, there
is a
photo of a star with a diamond shape, similar to those published on the
Share
International web page! Sircus says that Elenin is equivalent to
Nibiru/Planet
X/Hercolubus – but the evidence does not point to that conclusion.
In summary, based on
the evidence and observations that are now on hand, there is no
confirmation
that there is an approaching "Planet X".
In his blog, Sircus
said:
2) Looking at NASA
mathematical model of comet Elenin: "I found out that a large celestial
body has already penetrated the solar system and is on course for a
near and
possibly horrific encounter with the earth in the fall of 2011".
and
4) "On its
way out it will cross our bow, meaning it will pass very close to the
earth and
the earth will pass behind it, plowing into its tail":
The NASA mathematical
model of Elenin [18] identifies a
celestial body entering the solar system.
In his video, Sircus
has shown some alignments that took place (or are expected) in 2010 and
2011,
on dates where earthquakes had occurred (or are predicted):
a)
He attributed the
Japan March 11, 2011 quake to the alignment that
occurred four days later, on March 15, 2011, when Elenin was at 2.101
AU. (1 AU
is the distance between the Earth and the Sun.)
b)
The Sept 4, 2010
quake occurred at Christchurch, which he
attributed to an alignment (earth to the farthest point, with the sun
and
Mercury in the middle), when Elenin was at 6.258 AU.
c)
He attributed the
February 27, 2010 quake in Chile to another
alignment, when Elenin was at 6.042 AU.
d)
Then, Sircus moved
forward to Sept. 25, 2011, when another alignment
will take place and Elenin will be at 3.96 AU.
e)
The point at which
Elenin will be closest to the earth will take
place on October 17, 2011 (.232 AU); Elenin will be almost on our
orbit. (Note:
this date will be the middle of the feast of Tabernacles for 2011. [19])
f)
On November 5,
2011, the earth will enter the debris of the
tail of Elenin at a distance of .348 AU.
g)
On November 23,
2011, there will be an alignment similar to that
which took place on March 15, but this time with Elenin at a distance
of .596
AU.
These alignments – as
computed by the NASA model – have been confirmed by an independent
astronomer. [20]
However, we must note that
Elenin won't be the only visitor to our solar system during this time
period.
45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova
is
projected to reach aphelion
(its closest orbital distance to earth) in mid-August 2011, with an
estimated
proximity to earth of 0.077AU. It is believed to have a diameter of
1.6km, and
will have a perihelion (its closest orbital distance to sun) of 0.58AU
on
September 30, 2011. Elenin and 45P/Honda will cross our orbit
approximately on
October 8, 2011.
A web page with
information
about the trajectory of Elenin
and 45P/Honda [21] links both comets to
the Mayan calendar, and claims:
"Recalculating the Great Cycle
in its entirety against
the modern calendar, taking into account the faults and adjustments
incorporated into it would reveal that the prophesized date would
in fact
be on October 28, 2011, within weeks of Elenin’s projected perihelion,
and more
alarmingly, within 12 days of its forecasted perigee (closest orbital
distance
to the center of earth)".
Another (apparently New
Age)
site also sets forth October
28, 2011 as a critical date in the Mayan Calendar. [22]
To end on a skeptical
note: Sircus’ conclusion – that Elenin will have a major effect on the
Earth –
does not take into account the many, high-magnitude earthquakes that
have
occurred worldwide in recent years – with no correlation to the position of Comet Elenin.
3) About the size
of Elenin we have the following contradictory information:
a)
The discoverer,
Leonid Elenin, estimates that the comet nucleus is
3–4 km in diameter.
b)
Sircus believes
that the comet is a brown dwarf, implying that it is
bigger than the Earth. He concluded this because of the effects that it
(supposedly) has upon the Earth on the alignment dates.
c)
NASA has not
defined the size of Elenin, describing it on May 4,
2011, as "a modest-sized icy dirtball that is getting no closer than 35
million kilometers", in accordance with the definition of a comet. [23]
On Wikipedia, a comet is
defined as: [24]
"A comet is an icy small Solar
System body that, when
close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma (a thin, fuzzy,
temporary
atmosphere) and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to
the
effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the
comet.
Comet nuclei are themselves loose collections of ice, dust, and small
rocky
particles, ranging from a few hundred meters to tens of kilometers
across.”
d)
An “earth changes”
site claims a much larger diameter for Elenin,
as of April 10, 2011: [25]
“April 8th at our observatory
we carried out planned
observations of Comet C/2010 X1 (Elenin). An analysis of the
results
of the observations shows a rapid growth of the coma. Besides the
internal
compact gas envelope, the forming rarified external coma is also
visible in the
image. Its diameter exceeds 1 minute of arc, or 80,000 km!”
Another image on the same
web
site supposedly captures “the
close approach of Comet Elenin to asteroid 4336 Jasniewicz. [26] Here the closeness of the
objects, which are only 11 arc
minutes apart, is not an optical illusion but a real physical closeness
of two
celestial bodies.”
Returning to the
claims on Sircus’ blog:
5) Every time
this celestial body comes into alignment with the earth and sun we have
a huge
earthquake
and
6) "The
main point to understand is that if Elenin was just a normal comet it
would
not have the mass to generate a gravity pull that would affect the
earth
when the earth swings around into alignment".
Mark Sircus concluded,
about
the effects of Elenin: [27]
"An approaching brown dwarf
star answers a lot of
questions about what is happening all around us that others simply
cannot begin
to answer. No one really knows what will happen in the fall of this
year as
this incoming celestial body gets between us and the sun and then
rebounds out
again and heading directly into earth’s neighborhood. One person has
speculated
that it could rip our moon loose. It could hit us if its flight plan is
changed
by hitting an asteroid in the next few days. That could be possible if
it
really were a comet, but if it is a neutron star with a large mass,
nothing
will deflect its ordained path".
Others dismiss the notion
of an
Elenin/earth collision, but
raise the question of electromagnetic disturbances in the solar system
due to
the coming of the comet – disturbances that may affect the Earth: [28]
"There is NOT going to be a
pole shift in the next week
or so as certain raving nutzoids have been spamming all over the net.
Also,
Comet Elenin is NOT going to hit Earth (which is not to say that other
things
won’t at some point in space and time). However, there are a few things
about
this comet that are extremely interesting in view of the plasma comet
theory of
James McCanney."
"Now, assuming that there
are
no errors and no dramatic
changes to the orbit of Elenin, we find that the minimum distance (the
closest
Elenin will come to Earth) is 0.235 AU. (In other words, over 35
million
kilometers distant – not likely to be much in the way of potential
impact
there!)”
"Referring back to the
theories
of Jim McCanney, there
are three notable alignments between Elenin and Earth and some other
body of
the solar system in relation to the Sun.”
“On March 15th, there will
be a
Sun-Earth-Elenin Alignment.
I guess we can look for some EM [electro-magnetic] activity following
that.
Storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, perhaps even a little thinning
of the
veil?”
“On September 27th, there
will
be another Sun-Earth-Elenin
alignment. There will also be a new moon at this time (rather close)
and this
might produce more dramatic EM action on the planet. If you check the
angles
plotted on the graph … you’ll see that this alignment is actually very
interesting because Mercury also lines up on the opposite side of the
Sun. So
it is really a Mercury-Sun-Elenin-Moon-Earth alignment.”
“On November 23rd, another
Sun-Earth-Elenin alignment. The
new moon of November comes two days later on the 25th, so that might be
“close
enough for horseshoes” in the case of EM action. If
there are going to be any discharge
related events as described in McCanney’s theory, these dates may be
important.”
McCanney’s theory states: [29]
“The increase in extreme
weather events noted above can be
understood in the context of theories that take cosmic events into
account. One
such theory by James McCanney proposes that electromagnetic interaction
between
the planets, moons, comets and the sun result in tremendous discharges
of
energy which directly impact our weather.”
“As James McCanney
explains in
an interview he did for
Spectrum Magazine in 2003:
The [New] Moon moves in front
of Earth, breaks that electrical
flow [between the sun and Earth], and then moves out of the way. It
gives us
tremendous bombardment after that Moon moves out of the way, the first
and
second day after the New Moon. That's the condition that has been
identified as
being one of the leading causes of kicking-off major hurricanes and
storms.
What it does is: The Moon is interacting with the solar electric field.
It's
that CHANGE which causes the storms, and causes the environment around
Earth to
change, and thus affects Earth weather.”
Another site offers a
further
explanation of McCanney’s
theory:
[30]
“As long as a comet is
discharging the solar capacitor, it
doesn't need to collide with Earth for us to experience its effects.
Large
solar flares triggered by electrical interactions with comets,
electrical
currents flowing to Earth, and gravitational tidal waves can all take
their
toll. This "action-at-a-distance" phenomenon can cause extreme
weather and storms, volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, pollution events
(e.g., pandemics,
plagues, "Black Death", raining fire, etc.), pole shifts, mass
extinctions, meteor showers, mountain building, and huge electric
discharges
between Earth and a large, passing comet.”
While certain
planetary alignments have the potential to cause solar storms on their
own, a
period of very high solar activity is most likely an indication of a
large
comet (or comets) discharging the solar capacitor. When a large comet
nucleus
cuts through the solar capacitor's structure, igniting and discharging,
it sets
up a feedback loop with the Sun, pumping up the Sun's output, which in
turn
pumps up the discharging comet. When a third body enters into this
alignment,
the effects are even more exacerbated; for example, when Comet Lee
aligned with
Earth and Venus causing four major hurricanes to develop simultaneously
in
September, 1999. McCanney lists several other examples of this sort in
his
book. This is why events such as planetary eclipses, oppositions and
conjunctions are of interest in McCanney's model. These planetary
alignments
appear to provide conductive pathways for the solar capacitor to
discharge
itself. When a planet suddenly finds itself in the middle of such an
alignment,
it essentially gets "zapped", or caught between a plasma structure of
flowing electric current. …”
On the other hand, NASA
stated:
[31]
"Comet Elenin will not
encounter any dark bodies that
could perturb its orbit, nor will it influence us in any way here on
Earth".
CONCLUSION
In the
end, I
found that Sircus’ statements about Comet Elenin – and its effects on
Earth –
are not supported by the facts now available. The warnings that Sircus
gave in his
blog are largely based on unproven hypotheses and myths.
.
NOTES