Right as you’re clicking submit on your history essay Friday night on TurnItIn.com at 11:59pm, the lost planet Nibiru collides with the earth. You die, and your essay is late.
The world is rumored to end on December 21, 2012, when the Long Count Mayan ends after its 5,125 year cycle. The 21st is the day of the winter solstice, on which believers of the apocalypse theory say Earth will be aligned with the centerline of the galaxy, and the magnetic poles will reverse. A planet name Nibiru is also predicted to be heading straight for earth.
Though the apocalypse theories have been denounced by scientists and astronomers, a Reuters News poll from March found 12% of Americans and 10% of respondents in 21 countries believed the end of the Mayan calendar marks the end of the world.
Junior Andrew Jara said he thinks it’s very possible the world will end.
“I thought about purchasing a room in a vault underneath mountains in Utah, but it was too expensive for me to afford,” Jara said. “When I asked my parents for monetary support they denied me. Since I haven’t been able to get a vault, I’ve decided to make amend with all those I have touched in my life.”
NASA, on the other hand, said this event is far from likely and attempts to shed some light on the subject through a web page titled “Beyond 2012: Why the World Won’t End.”
NASA scientists said on the website that “just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012,” indicating that the Mayan calendar repeats again after it ends as our calendar does.
The scientists from NASA also say the earth will not experience a total blackout and a planetary alignment would have “negligible” effects on the earth. NASA also shoots down the Nibiru planet collision theory by saying that the planet would be visible by the naked eye by now if it were to collide with the earth on the 21st.
Senior Corey Alt said he thinks the end of the world is unlikely.
“I’m going to say [the world will not end] because the Mayans only sort of predicted the world will end,” he said. “They kind of just ran out of space on a circular tablet.”
Alt said he doubts the Mayans prediction has legitimacy because “they didn’t really have a method for predicting much of anything they predicted.”
