No, the world isn’t ending this month.
The infamous Planet X apocalypse theory is making headlines again after Christian numerologist and self-published author David Meade revealed to tabloids that the fictional planet also known as Nibiru will appear on April 23, marking the beginning of the biblical rapture.
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Meade first predicted that Nibiru would hurl towards planet Earth and wipe everything out on Sept. 23, 2017. But that day came and went.
So, he shifted his prediction to last October and then again to November.
Now, British tabloids are reporting that on April 23, “codes in the Bible suggest the end of the world is imminent, with Earth set to be destroyed,” citing Meade as an expert.
Sites like Daily Mail and The Daily Express are citing one Bible passage (Revelation 12:1-2) as the theorist's evidence: "And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth."
They note that the passage refers to the second coming of Jesus Christ (and the beginning of the rapture).
"On April 23, the sun and moon will be in Virgo, as will Jupiter, which represents the Messiah," according to the Daily Express. "Experts at first dismissed this claim when they discovered this alignment happens every 12 years. However, the conspiracy theories claim another planetary alignment, representing 'the Lion of the tribe of Judah', will make this time the Rapture."
The planet responsible for this alignment, according to theorists, is Planet X or Nibiru, a fictional planet that some say is orbiting the sun and in an "extremely long, eccentric orbit," according to Space.com.
When Nibiru passes Earth, some believe it’ll cause volcanic eruptions and destroy the world as we know it.
"The mathematical prediction of a planet could explain the unique orbits of some smaller objects in the Kuiper Belt," per a NASA report about the hypothetical planet.
According to National Geographic, the Nibiru conspiracy theory apparently dates back to the 1970s. The planet was initially supposed to collide with Earth in 2003 and then later in 2012. Nothing happened.
"Nibiru and other stories about wayward planets are an Internet hoax," NASA said in a 2012 statement. "If Nibiru or Planet X were real and headed for an encounter with the Earth … astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye."
What there is evidence for, however, is a possible Planet Nine. Read more on that here.
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