Deciphering Fact from Fiction, Is Niburu Real?

Recently, there has been increased interest in a (rather large) tenth planet, which might be located beyond Pluto. To some this heavenly body is called Nibiru and its existence has been much discussed lately, especially in those astronomical and scientific circles that are concerned with great psychic events, such as the end of the Mayan calendar and the unexpected appearance of comets, meteors and meteorites.

Nibiru is an ancient term that comes from the extinct Akkadian language. Akkadian was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia and was a branch of the Semitic family of languages. In ancient Babylon the Akkadian Empire was centered around the city of Akkad, which is believed to be located near present-day Bagdad in Iraq. From this ancient Sumerian language, comes the term, nibiru, which refers to the midpoint when crossing a river. The term was also used to describe astronomical events, such as the highest point of the ecliptic, i.e. the point of summer solstice.

NASA, which some detractors claim, stands for "never a straight answer", is always on the lookout for stray asteroids, meteors or comets that might undergo a close fly-by to planet earth. Though quite common in outer space, these celestial objects, could cause catastrophic damage, if they might incur a rare, direct hit on our planet. Case in point was a recent asteroid (called DA14) that passed close to the earth. Of particular interest to space scientists was a meteorite sighting and landing, which occurred near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk right about the same time that the large asteroid was whizzing by our planet. The meteorite exploded, as it passed through the atmosphere, knocking out windows and even sending a few unsuspecting folks tumbling to the ground.

What was most surprising about this event, was the reaction to it by our major scientific organizations. Like NASA, most said the meteorite(s) in Russia was unrelated to the large asteroid that just missed the earth. However, there were some notable exceptions, such as the Japanese astronomer, Michio Kaku, who stated that since asteroids often travel in swarms, the one that landed in Russia was probably connected to the large asteroid, (DA 14).

Febuary 15, 2013 was the day that the meteorite buzzed Russian skies and landed in a frozen pond near the city of Chelyabinsk. What is even stranger that on February 9, 2013, APOD, (Astronomy Picture of the Day), a website associated with NASA, posted a copy of an old painting, detailing the Great Meteor Procession of 1913, a similar event, where meteors were observed streaking across the sky from Canada to Brazil. This painting pictured on the APOD website, details an outbreak of meteors that were observed from Toronto, Canada in 1913.

NASA is always searching for new planets located beyond Pluto. At least one candidate has been found, but none that even comes close to Niburu in size and weight has ever been found beyond the miniature planet. In fact, Pluto is so small in comparison to the rest of the planets that it is often categorized as a "dwarf planet".

Beyond the dwarf planet of Pluto, there could be as many as a trillion comets. Over the last 30 years or more, space research organizations have made press releases about a possible extra planet, but so far, these discoveries have failed to pan out. One such discovery occurred in 2005, but the so-called new planet was not large enough to attract serious scientific inquiry.

According to NASA and other similar organizations, there is no evidence of a large planet beyond Pluto. If a planet did exist, it would be affected by the gravitational pull of the sun and so have an already established orbit around our closest star. Such a object would sooner or later (probaly sooner) show up in our astronomical observatories or traveling space probes. No such large object has yet appeared, though on occasion NASA has made press releases about tiny space objects beyond Neptune that might be classified as a "dwarf planet".

Lat in the 20th century advanced astronomical searches began finding many planet-like objects beyond Neptune and sometimes in the vicinity of Pluto. As of 2013 none of these space bodies has been declared a planet, though they do pocess some interesting names. Many seem to orbit around the sun in direct relation with the planet Neptune, hence their name. Others, however, are far enough out to be considered part of the Kuiper Belt.