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25 Space Conspiracies That Just Won’t Die 31

That Just Won't Die

Continued from Page 28

Earth will go dark for two weeks.

In July 2015, a website called "NewsWatch33"
wrote an article claiming that Earth would have
15 days of complete darkness that year. The
website, which is actually a fake news site, was
borrowing from an older version of the tale that
has been circulating for years, according to
debunking website Snopes.
As we all know, Earth did not actually
experience that much darkness that year. (The
article claimed that the alleged darkness was
partly due to a Jupiter-Venus conjunction,
which actually took place more than 500 million
miles apart.) Darkness occurs when the Earth
rotates, causing the sun to "set" on the local
horizon. Brief periods of darkness can also UFO was caught "refueling" at the When evaluating the claims, consider
happen when the sun is totally obscured during that the Martian environment is extremely harsh
sun.
total solar eclipses, which occur rarely in any to life as we know it; the surface is baked with
particular spot on Earth. But even during an radiation, the "air" is mostly carbon dioxide and
NASA has a fleet of sun-gazing spacecraft that
eclipse, Earth is never completely in the dark. there's not much atmospheric pressure.
keep an eye on space weather, especially during
solar eruptions. In 2012, telescopic images
Zero-gravity day will make you I just saw a bright UFO!
appeared to show something in the shadows. On
weightless. YouTube, some viewers said this could be a

UFO that was refueling by using the solar It's a familiar trope for police stations and
If you ever wanted to leap into the sky and soar plasma. astronomy writers. From time to time,
like Superman, this hoax is for you. In late 2014 However, NASA pointed out that the somebody will call (or write) in to say they just
and early 2015, a widely shared story claimed feature is actually something called a saw a UFO in the sky. They spotted a bright
that on Jan. 4, 2015, everyone on Earth would "prominence," which has cooler and denser light around sunset, or saw a light moving
experience weightlessness due to a rare plasma than the outer atmosphere of the sun, or around in an unfamiliar way.
alignment of the planets. A doctored image of a the corona. Scientists are still trying to figure While every situation is different, one
purported tweet from NASA's Twitter account out how solar prominences develop, but they're common explanation for "UFOs" is actually
that went around on social media fooled a lot of pretty sure it has nothing to do with aliens. another extraterrestrial object: Venus. Venus can
people into believing the hoax. be extremely bright when it's at its closest,
But, of course, nobody floated off the There is a ______ on Mars! because it's relatively near Earth. The planet is
surface of Earth that day. Earth's gravity is too also extremely reflective because the sun's light
strong for people to become weightless. The bounces off the clouds. So before calling to say
only way to experience weightlessness without you've spotted a UFO, check your sky charts!
going to space is to ride aboard a plane that
performs parabolas, with some including a few NASA can travel faster than light.
seconds of weightlessness. This is sometimes
nicknamed the Vomit Comet. If you've seen the "Star Trek" clips that show
the Enterprise spaceship warping into another
Alien spacecraft caused a mysterious sector, you might have wondered how fast
explosion. NASA is making progress on being able to
move at the speed of light. The EmDrive has
Back in 2004, an expedition of Russian created years of speculation, with some
researchers working in Siberia claimed to have breathlessly saying NASA must be on the verge
discovered "an extraterrestrial device" close to of breaking the famed barrier.
where the mysterious Tunguska explosion In reality, NASA is downplaying the
occurred. Scientists still aren't sure exactly what reports. The engine in question is a prototype
it was that blew up in the sky over Siberia that With NASA's Opportunity and Curiosity rovers that is producing some interesting results, such
day in 1908, but the leading theory is that it was regularly taking pictures of the Martian surface, as appearing to create thrust when there was no
a large meteorite or an asteroid. viewers have the chance to check out what reason for this to happen – and thereby violating
The Tunguska incident flattened they're doing in almost real time. NASA puts Newton's Third Law of Motion. That said,
hundreds of square miles of forest, and signs of the raw images online for the public to see. But NASA has not yet verified the results from these
the destruction were visible even decades over the years, some weird shapes have cropped tests, and the engine has not been widely
afterward. At the time, news reports claimed up. In 2008, for example, the Opportunity rover discussed in peer-reviewed research.
that evidence of aliens was found at the site, but appeared to photograph a female figure. Other
this claim was never substantiated. "The photos have shown things shaped like animals, (Continued on Page 32)
Russian team stupidly stated long before they spoons or other items.
went to Siberia that the main intention of their You can imagine that, with all of the THE ‘X’ ZONE BROADCAST NETWORK
expedition was to find the remnants of an alien rocks available on Mars, some of them would www.XZBN.net
spaceship," Benny Peiser, a researcher at happen to look like familiar objects. In fact, the “Searching for Answers, Demanding the
Liverpool John Moores University in the U.K., human brain tends to perceive meaningful Truth.”
told Space.com. "And bingo! A week later, images in random patterns — a phenomenon Listen 24/7/365 at
that's what they claim to have found." known as pareidolia. www.XZBN.net