NASA confirms September asteroid will not bring end to the world

Artist's rendering of a bolide impact. Wikimedia Commons/Fredrik

NASA has issued a statement that should put an end to the rumors that the world will soon end once the asteroid hits the Earth.

The statement was in response to the various posts circulating the social media claiming that the said asteroid will destroy the world during its arrival between the Dec. 15 to 28. 

It was also mentioned that a statement needed to be released because rumors had it that the government was covering up the issue so as not to cause panic, as stated in Wired.

The content of the rumor specifically stated that the impact will happen "near Puerto Rico" and will spread damage to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Mexico and the United States, and will also include South and Central America.

NASA dismissed all of those rumors. According Paul Chodas, manager of Near-Earth Object (NEO) office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), "There is no scientific basis — not one shred of evidence — that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates."

Chodas even added in the statement that appeared on the JPL website that if there were large celestial bodies that would hit Earth on those days, the experts would've seen them by now.

The Near-Earth Object Observations Program confirmed that no asteroids or comets have been seen in the orbit that could hit Earth anytime.

Moreover, NASA's official statement also said that the probability that "Potentially Hazardous Asteroids" will hit Earth over the next 100 years would be less than 0.01 per cent.

Of course, people from NASA are not surprised with such claims. This is not the first time that rumors about asteroids hitting earth and destroying mankind surfaced.

Chodas and his team also know so well that rumors like these won't be the last. It appears that millions of people see it as a favorite subject for rumors.

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