Is There Such A Thing As 'Planet X,' And Is It Part Of The Current Prophetic Pulse?

by Michael H. Brown

"I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant, the insolence of tyrants I will humbled. For this I will make the heavens tremble and the earth shall be shaken from its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts, on the day of His burning anger" -- Isaiah 13:11-13

In a few days, on August 18, an asteroid is expected to whiz by earth at just slightly farther than the moon. Even though that's more than 200,000 miles away, it's a close brush by the standards of astronomy (which measures in terms of millions) and comes at a time of greatly heightened awareness. We receive many e-mails from readers who want to know how it may all play into prophecy, and who inquire about a certain asteroid or planetoid known as "Planet X."

No one can say if there really is a Planet X. The recent speculation began when two teams of researchers proposed the existence of an unseen planet or failed star circling the sun at more than two trillion miles. It was not based on an actual sighting, but on calculations that seek an explanation for why comets coming from that part of deep space act the way they do. After years of study, researchers are reporting that the patterns hint at something big out there perturbing the cometary paths -- and speculate it could be an object bigger than Jupiter.

This is all just that: speculation. But when we get into the idea of Planet X, we're in the terrain of a far-off gatherings of asteroids and comets known as the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud. The Oort Cloud is especially intriguing, not only because it is far beyond Pluto -- so far it is really just another theory -- but also because it could send what's known as a "long-term" comet: a previously unknown giant of a space rock that would suddenly appear from behind the sun, giving us only months or weeks or days to prepare for it.

Some of these comets can be massive. One example was Hale-Bopp -- which was discovered (by amateur astronomers!) just 20 months before its closest pass. It was on the order of 30 miles wide, where an asteroid far smaller, a mile or wider, would cause huge global effects and is considered catastrophic.

Will another Hale-Bopp appear one day -- suddenly there in the sky? And is this part of the prophetic pulse?

There are those who say earth has been hit by large space objects much more frequently than we believe and that major such catastrophes may have occurred around 2500 B.C. (the era of Sodom and Gomorrah); 1000 B.C.; and perhaps as recently as 550 A.D. or thereabouts -- causing huge climate disruptions.

"I would say at this point I would look at anything that's out there, even biblical," we were told by astronomer Eleanor Helin of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who discovered some of the first asteroids and who believes that many ancient legends speaking of great catastrophes are actually true. "These long-period comets are always being found and just thank God they haven't come that close."

There may be as many as 30 to 100 million comets and other objects in the Oort -- and these objects, which can approach the size of Pluto, could be affected by the forces of the hypothesized Planet X. When we contemplate such numbers, we realize that it is only God Who has kept matters in order and the earth out of danger. Our scientists have no way of detecting or even counting the vast majority of such objects -- and no way of defending against them. Dr. Brian Marsden of Harvard told us that the "comfortable cushion" of warning -- the time necessary to develop a counter-measure -- may be as many as twenty years. "There may be whole reservoirs whose existence we are unaware," says another astronomer, Dr. Bill Napier of Armagh Observatory in Ireland. 

This is ironic because the one time we had been in Armagh previously was to meet with an alleged seer who claimed to "see" an object heading to earth at great speed.

Fact? Fantasy?

In the secrets of places like Medjugorje are supposed to be huge catastrophic events, and there is always the chance that one may involve an asteroid. An alleged Spanish seer was fairly explicit in this regard, claiming to have glimpsed the preview of an event "like two stars... that crash... but don't fall." 

In other words, a close call that will make us review our consciences. There are those on the fringes of science who claim ancient Sumerians recorded a planet called Nibiru (which some think is now Planet X) that once collided with earth and created an asteroid belt. The pictograph of this lost world was the form of a cross. Peoples in the ancient world supposedly considered the periodic nearing of this 12th "planet" as a sign of great upheavals, changes, and new eras. Some believe it will approach again in 2003 -- a theory at which the vast majority of astronomers would scoff. 

Caution is in order. Most such theories come from sources that tend toward such things as UFOs, Atlantis, and the New Age, which we consider great deceptions.

But what we can glean from it is that the heavens may be more active, as recorded by the ancients, than previously thought. "I definitely foresee that time," said Dr. Steve Ostro, a planetary radar astronomer, referring to spotting an asteroid coming. "The question is how much warning we're going to have." 

Most say the probability of a catastrophic earth impact is small. The chance of an asteroid three-quarters of a mile in width hitting during a particular century -- one large enough to upset global agriculture (by the dust it heaves upwardly) -- is between one in 1,000 and one in 10,000, Dr. Ostro told us. But astronomers admit they're just guessing -- just as they're now guessing about the existence of a mysterious outer planet that could send a comet onto a path toward earth.

[see also our book, Sent To Earth, available in the Spiritdaily bookstore]