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March 2010_june_july_2009.qxd 29/03/2010 11:53 AM Page 33 Is Nibiru really hurtling towards Earth? 33 Is Nibiru really hurtling towards Earth? by D VOGT Almost certainly, it is not. According to one theory, based upon a tenuous analysis of obscure ancient Sumerian texts, the ancient peoples of the Near East were aware of a planet which follows a drawn-out 3600 year orbit, passing near Earth once during that time period. Moreover, according to the theory, we're due for one of those passes very soon now. Fortunately, there is no physical evidence whatsoever to support this theory. - The Theory of Nibiru - The idea of Nibiru originated with Nancy Lieder, who claimed during the mid- 1990s she was passed information by Zeta Reticuli aliens that excitement about the Hale- Bopp comet was a deliberate misdirection to lull people into a false sense of security while a much greater threat, Nibiru, approached the inner solar system. Lieder predicted that Nibiru out that the single document on which Sitchin there were hundreds of large objects zipping would arrive in 2003; this date, obviously, bases his claims actually says nothing explicit around in irregular orbits. Things have settled proved incorrect. However, information is still about astronomy (nor does it correspond to down since then, however. Jupiter's massive available from her website, ZetaTalk. other astronomical texts left by the Sumerians), gravity tends to keep the system in line: A more sophisticated theory of Nibiru and, most importantly, all of the other evidence Asteroids and comets that get too close are has been provided by Zecharia Sitchin, a about Sumerian astronomy suggests that they either pulled in, to crash into that planet, or have Middle Eastern-born journalist who believes were aware of just five planets. None of these their orbits disrupted so that they are flung out that the ancient Sumerians were aware of a were Nibiru. One would assume that, if the of the solar system. planet today's scientists have not yet found (or Sumerian civilization really were the product of If a giant planet named Nibiru were are suppressing evidence of), which they called systematic alien intervention, there would be far pushing through the solar system every several Nibiru. Sumerian astronomers, Sitchin claims, more references to this fact. thousand years, however, it would disrupt all of knew that Nibiru, Nibiru's moons, and another More to the point, however, it's worth the orbits of the planets as it went. More comets planet, Tiamat, had been involved in a collision, looking at why it's safe to assume that a roughly and asteroids would be pushed around the which destroyed Tiamat. Part of Tiamat became Earth-sized planet like Nibiru can't plausibly be system, resulting in large impacts on Earth - the Earth; the remaining debris broke apart to found in a 6000-year orbit around our own Sun which do happen, but nothing like every 3600 create the Asteroid Belt. years, which they would if they were caused by Sitchin goes further. He claims that - Nibiru and the Solar System - Nibiru. (Major impacts tend to happen every Nibiru is home to another intelligent species, few tens of millions of years, not every few which has been plundering Earth's resources for The current form of Earth and of the thousand years.) Moons might be pushed out of a half-million years and were known to the solar system simply does not support Sitchin's orbit, and planets' orbits would be altered, Sumerians as Anunnaki. The Anunnaki created theories about ancient astronomy. It seems resulting in enormous and possibly devastating the early humans from lower primate species for extraordinarily implausible that any collision so climate changes on Earth. We have no evidence use as slaves, but left after an interstellar war devastating that it separated one large planet in the archaeological or fossil record to support occurred around 2000 BC (when the ancient into remnants in the form of Earth and the sudden, occasionally drastic changes every few Sumerian city of Ur was destroyed, possibly Asteroid Belt would not have left anything large thousand years. during a skirmish in this greater war). Details of enough and stable enough to support life (i.e. Of course, Nibiru's orbit would have to his theory have been published in a variety of the Earth). Moreover, such a theory does not be altered just as drastically as it altered all of books between the 1970s and the present, the explain why some of the debris ended up in the other planets' orbits, too. So it wouldn't have latest of which is "The End of Days: Earth's orbit, and the rest ended up in the a 3600 year orbit on anything like a regular Armageddon and Prophecies of the Return." Asteroid Belt, with a space in between that is basis. Sooner or later, such a planet would either essentially empty except for the planet Mars. be pushed too far in one direction (so that it - A Lack of Evidence - Second, it is hard to imagine a large crashed into the Sun, or perhaps Jupiter), or too planet having an orbit as great as the one far in the other direction, so that it moved into One thing is clear: Those who say that attributed to Nibiru. The outer solar system is an even longer orbit. Nibiru exists have been unable to point to any mostly empty, but beyond the gas giants The Nibiru theory does bear certain meaningful published debate on this subject themselves (with orbits that take less than a similarities to another scientific theory, that of within the scientific community, nor have they century), all of the dwarf planets of the Kuiper Nemesis - a brown dwarf star which might pass submitted any physical evidence which has Belt and the scattered disk regions, like Pluto by the solar system in a multi-million-year stood up to careful scientific scrutiny. If Nibiru and Eris, can't even rival our own Moon in orbit. Advocates of Nemesis, too, have really were poised to begin its once-in-a-few- terms of size. There are objects beyond this, but suggested that the implicit evidence for the millennia traverse of the inner solar system, it it is doubtful they would be any larger - get out existence of this star lies in the periodic ought to be easily visible to the naked eye either too far, and the Sun's gravity simply isn't strong cometary devastations of Earth's orbit, which now, or at least very soon - and certainly it enough to hold a very large object to a regular might occur whenever Nemesis disrupts the should be possible to locate Nibiru in a orbit. Oort cloud or even the Kuiper Belt. As with telescope. Finally, our solar system, from what we Nibiru, there is no evidence to suggest that In addition, there have been devastating can guess based on current observations, is a Nemesis exists. Of course, that evidence could critiques of Sitchin's analysis of Sumerian pretty stable place nowadays. That wasn't so be discovered tomorrow - and would then astronomy; Michael Heiser, for instance, points billions of years ago, when the planets were require a complete reassessment of existing forming (and still molten, in most cases), and theories. (Continued on Page 36)