Science News

September Doomsday Asteroid Debunked By NASA

Refuting a viral fear of asteroids stoked by a recent asteroid awareness meeting of scientists and astronauts, NASA issued a news release this past week reinforcing their stance that Earth is not in danger of being by an asteroid.

The news release came in the wake of a slew of predictions from blogs and websites saying an asteroid will impact the Earth near Puetro Rico, devastating huge portions of the United States’ Atlantic and Gulf coasts and causing massive damage to Central and South America.

NASA’s Paul Chodas, the manager of the organization’s Near-Earth Object division, was decisive in his polemic against the rumors floating around the internet not unlike loose objects flying through space.

Chodas said that the claims of a September asteroid impact have “no scientific basis” nor “one shred of evidence.”

There is no scientific basis — not one shred of evidence — that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates.

In fact, scientists have gauged the probability of an asteroid hitting our planet in the next 100 years at about .01 percent.

But that’s not all, a recent story by CNN said, quoting a 2014 story in Slate, in which astronomer Phil Plait said the chances of a person dying from “in an asteroid impact” are 1 in 700,000.”

The odds of dying in an asteroid impact are 1 in 700,000. You have more of a chance of being struck by lightning in your lifetime (1 in 3,000) or finding a pearl in an oyster (1 in 12,000).

Several Twitter account have been featured in news articles about the asteroid hype.

One Twitter account with the profile name “Wendy DeRigo” claimed that “HOMELAND SECURITY CONFIRMS COMET TO HIT THE ATLANTIC IN SEPTEMBER!! PLEASE SHARE & PREPARE!”

NASA’s official @AsteroidWatch Twitter account responded to concerned followers with the following tweet: “It’s an internet hoax.”

This past January, an asteroid came within 700,000 miles of Earth.

Click to comment
To Top

Hi - We Would Love To Keep In Touch

If you liked this article then please consider joing our mailing list to receive the latest news, updates and opportunities from our team.

We don't want an impostor using your email address so please look for an email from us and click the link to confirm your email address.