September Doomsday Asteroid: NASA Downplays Doomsday Rumors, But Conspiracy Theories Remain

Fears of a September asteroid crashing into Earth and creating a Doomsday scenario are being put to rest — at least in part.

Conspiracy theorists have been chattering for several months about a giant asteroid hurdling toward Earth, one that they believe will strike sometime in the next few days.

Though the September asteroid has many people worried, NASA has already on the record saying there is nothing to worry about.

“There is no scientific basis – not one shred of evidence – that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates,” said Paul Chodas, in a statement issued back in August.

Science20 pointed out that past predictions of Armageddon have been off the mark. When an asteroid flew close to Earth back in May, there were shouting headlines from conspiracy theory sites claiming that it would be the end of the world.

But NASA provided a much more clear view of the nearly 1 kilometer-long asteroid.

“An asteroid, designated 1999 FN53, will safely pass more than 26 times the distance of Earth to the moon on May 14. To put it another way, at its closest point, the asteroid will get no closer than 6.3 million miles away (10 million kilometers). It will not get closer than that for well over 100 years. And even then, (119 years from now) it will be so far away it will not affect our planet in any way, shape or form. 1999 FN53 is approximately 3,000 feet (1 kilometer) across.”

Though NASA has been downplaying the asteroid Doomsday rumor for weeks now, it has done little to stop the rumor. There are still many conspiracy theory sites trumpeting it as the end of the world.

Even legitimate sites, including the UK’s Mirror, have been fueling the hysteria. The paper cited an expert who, while possible attempting to downplay the significance of the flyby, stoked more fear.

Closer reports.

“Professor Robert Walsh – executive director of research at The University of Central Lancashire – told The Mirror: “What you may not realise is that Earth is hit with about a hundred tons of extraterrestrial material every day.”

“Earth has experienced very destructive impacts in the past – just ask any dinosaur.

“The Earth-smashing asteroid in that case has been estimated to be around 10km across. So we have to take the threat seriously.”

But the September asteroid conspiracy theories may not have much longer. The predictions claim that the asteroid will pass sometime by September 28, giving the Doomsday stories just about a week left.