NASA: 'Why the World Won't End' in 2012

NASA has quietly put in its FAQ last month a page that describes why the world won’t end on Dec. 21.

But despite it not being “the end of the world as we know it,” NASA is quick to point out there will be a change. “However, it will be another winter solstice,” the page states.

“Contrary to some of the common beliefs out there, the claims behind the end of the world quickly unravel when pinned down to the 2012 timeline,” NASA continues. “The world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.”

Then the agency has compiled a variety of sections that some people might write off as conspiracies.

One question, perhaps asked of NASA scientists by members of the public, asks “What is the origin of the prediction that the world will end in 2012?”

Here’s NASA’s answer:

 A: The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012 and linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012 — hence the predicted doomsday date of December 21, 2012.

Likewise, NASA poses then answers the question of whether the Mayan calendar ends in December 2012.

A: 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. This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but then — just as your calendar begins again on January 1 — another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar.

Furthermore, NASA is not predicting a “total blackout”; there will be no planetary alignments in the next few decades and even if alignments happened “their effects on the Earth would be negligible”; Nibiru “and other stories about wayward planets” are nothing but “an Internet hoax” without any factual basis; there is no danger from giant solar storms this year (any that happen will be part of “an average solar cycle); and no meteors are predicted to hit the Earth in 2012. 

NASA goes on: “For any claims of disaster or dramatic changes in 2012, where is the science? Where is the evidence? There is none, and for all the fictional assertions, whether they are made in books, movies, documentaries or over the Internet, we cannot change that simple fact. There is no credible evidence for any of the assertions made in support of unusual events taking place in December 2012.”

Then again, NASA talked about the theories behind 2012 at least once before, back in 2009. 

Whoever anonymously wrote that post reiterated that there is “no credible evidence–telescopic or otherwise–” for Nibiru’s existence. “I do however like the name Nibiru,” writes the poster. “If I ever get a pet goldflish (and I just may do that sometime in early 2013), Nibiru will be at the top of my list. “