A total eclipse of doomsayers is unlikely

The total solar eclipse that 14 states in the US are to witness later this month comes at a really bad time. Not only is the rotund supremo of North Korea dropping dark hints about Guam within earshot of the naturally pugnacious US President Donald Trump, doomsayers have come up with another prediction for the end of the world a little over a month later —September 23, 2017.

Darkness at dawn, a black moon, a rare line-up of stars, Biblical and Talmudic references, and several other hallmarks of a good disaster scenario are adding up nicely. So, it is not surprising that the Internet in particular is awash in predictions that a mystery planet called Nibiru — whose existence is denied by scientists round the world —will slam into the Earth just as the sun is blotted out. Curtains for us earthlings, in short.

Despite having been proved wrong countless times in the recorded — and unrecorded — past, these soi disant prophets deserve credit for indefatigable positivity about imminent apocalypse. This solar event, and even the supposedly significant alignment of stars, have all happened before and we have lived to tell the tale. Undoubtedly, once this date passes, alternative doomsday scenarios will be dug out, with other likely dates as early as 2020 and as distant as 11120, including a dozen others in between.