Comet Elenin and the Doomsday That Wasn't
In 2011, the internet decided a newly found comet was a hidden planet, a spaceship, or a sign of the end. It quietly fell apart.
What was reported
In December 2010, the Russian amateur astronomer Leonid Elenin, using a remote telescope in New Mexico, discovered a new comet. It was predicted to pass relatively close to Earth in October 2011.
Online, rumours spread: that it was a brown dwarf or the mythical planet Nibiru, that it would cause earthquakes, or that it was an alien craft and that NASA was hiding the truth. Some videos claimed its approach would trigger disasters.
Explanations offered
The comet was small, a few kilometres across at most, and posed no danger. In August 2011, it broke apart as it neared the Sun, leaving a fading cloud of dust. Its closest approach to Earth came and went without anything happening.
- When
- Discovered December 2010; broke up in 2011
- Where
- Mayhill, New Mexico, USA
- Witnesses
- An amateur astronomer, then the internet
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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