I was chatting online yesterday when someone messaged me, asking if I had "heard the new Planet X theory." Eyebrow raised, I replied that I had not, but that extrasolar planets are being found with regularity now. He then sent me a link to an interesting site called "Planet X Exists" (http://xfacts.com/x2.htm) that talks about how the Sumerians purportedly knew about a Planet X and that it's highly elliptical orbit carries it very close to the Earth every few thousand years.

So far, fairly plausible. He then starts telling me about "the conspiracy." It seems that "Planet X" is really just now on the other side of the sun and it is going to pass near the Earth "real soon now." However, "the government" is keeping this info from the public and the only people that will survive this close encounter will be those that are "in the know."

I explained to him that if it were really that close, that amateur astronomers would have surely observed it by now, and he countered with the "fact" that it was opposite the sun at this point, so it wouldn't be seen. You begin to see the mindset at work here I think.

Anyway, I just wanted to throw this up here to see if anyone else has encountered this particular form of (insert your favorite expletive here) going around.

Denny

P.S. As I write this, I cannot get the X-Facts website to come up, but this appears to be more of a localized problem than anything (my ping times to mit.edu are atrocious right now as well).

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Denman on 2002-01-24 17:36 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Denman on 2002-01-24 17:37 ]</font>

Denman:
Go to "Against the mainstream" and look for "Dark Star theory:a possibility or New Age drivel?". You'll find some discussion there.

__________________
Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson

Hey neighbor (grin)....I drive thru Elgin quite a bit on my way to Houston...

Denny

Hey yourself neighbor. I don't really live "in" Elgin, but it is my mailing address. I live out in the middle of nowhere south of town at the end of 5 miles of dirt road (Great for skywatching [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]). I work in Austin. Texas is quite well represented on this board. There is at least one other Autinite and someone from Elgin who has never posted [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img].

_________________
TANSTAAFL!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Kaptain K on 2002-01-25 12:37 ]</font>

Not sure if this counts, but I was born in Wichita Falls. But I was only three months old when my folks moved us back north...

Quick! Someone sell that man some Planet X catastophe insurance! (along with the deed to the Brooklyn Bridge)

Denman, I discuss some of this with GrapesOfWrath in the "Dark Star theory: a possibility or New Age drivel?" topic in the "Against the mainstream" section, as of Kaptain K pointed out.

To be brief, I don't believe Planet X exist, or any planets beyond Pluto in our solar system. The so-called gravitational perturbations of Uranus and Neptune were likely in error or caused the objects in the Kuiper belt.