Category Archives: Bad Science, UFO’s and Modern Myths

The Scream

Every day, I see more and more adverts and announcements promising apocalypse in the year 2012.  Some genius in Hollywood has capitalised on this with a blockbuster film about it, and I’m seeing more and more unrelated junk science theories being lumped together as proof that the Mayans were right.  But there’s a lot of other junk out there as well, everything from New Physics theories that get published in glossy paperbacks to UFO sightings.

Countering all this are a large number of skeptical science articles, using fact and logic to pour scorn on anybody who believes all that stuff.  And frankly, it’s counter-productive.  If you’re not sure what to believe and are looking for answers, I doubt you’re going to listen to the guy who insults you for asking.  So in these pages I hope to challenge most of the apocalyptic theories and the explanations behind them using facts and simple logic.  No ad hominem attacks, no jokes at the expense of believers.  With luck, people will actually read this, and maybe I can help dispel some of the darkness.

Solar Flares

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As anybody with an internet connection has heard, on 21 December 2012 various events will coincide:  The appearance of the dread planet Nibiru, the alignment of the Solar System with the galactic core, the end date of the Mayan Long Count, which will cause (via various pseudo-scientific mechanisms) the Sun to go crazy, belching out Solar Flares which will strip the earth of its protective atmospheric layers and snuff out life on earth.  Gosh! Before we go on, I need … Continue reading →

Fireballs over Harrismith

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Harrismith is a small town in the agricultural heartland of South Africa.  On 30 October 2011, resident Riaan van Greuning saw balls of fire drifting through the sky at high speed, appearing in the sky to the north of his home and heading south before vanishing in the clouds.  Here is an excerpt from his email to Urban Astronomer, providing a lucid and detailed description: They were all moving approximately at the same speed, I would say according to the … Continue reading →

28 January 2011: UFO over Jerusalem

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According to the caption on this video, the two witnesses were standing on the promenade of Armon Hantziv in Jerusalem when they saw a bright light in the sky at about 01h00 in the morning.  They started filming and were in time to capture the light descending rapidly to hover very close to the ground, directly over the Dome of the Rock in the Jerusalem old city, a site of religious importance.  After hovering for a while, the light then … Continue reading →

The Hottel Report

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The incident referred to in the buzz surrounding the Hottel Report is probably the most familiar UFO story ever:  Roswell.  Many books could be written (and they have) on the Roswell incident, on what happened, on what really happened, on what “They” don’t want you to know, and more.  It’s been confirmed, debunked, studied, de-debunked, re-debunked and ridiculed.  There are so many versions of the truth out there that hardly anybody takes it seriously anymore.  Roswell is a cultural phenomenon, … Continue reading →

Is 2012 real?

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It won’t be long before all those scary impressive banner ads have people asking me “Is 2012 real?”.  The answer is not simple, since I need to know if you’re referring to an action-packed thrill-a-minute movie or the actual year.  If you’re asking about the movie, then the answer is “Yes, it is real, and was released last month”.   If you’re asking about the actual year, though, then I’m afraid that the answer is still “Yes”.  It is a … Continue reading →