«A threat to humanity…»
This topic is one of the most fanciful that can be found floating around on the Internet. However, for a time it had a certain "pogee" in Chile, and specifically in my city I found more than one poster pasted on walls and kiosks, announcing "informative talks", supporting and warning the public about this subject. There is even a book for sale, which is freely promoted on the web. www.hercolubus.cl; Sometimes dissimilar versions circulate on the Internet about Hercolubus, but below I quote the most widespread and commented version about this false planet that threatens the Earth:
Pseudoscience says...
The planet Hercolobus is a giant about 6 times larger than Jupiter, belonging to the Tylo or Tyler system and with an orbit of 35,000 years around the Sun (although in some versions it is cited as 13,000 years); In its orbit it reaches ~500,000 km from Earth, and specifically on August 11, 1999, Hercolobus will reach that fateful point with disastrous consequences for our planet, including earthquakes, tsunamis, epidemics and even a deviation of the earth's axis.
Science says...
Although the versions vary slightly in terms of the proportions of the planet, its orbit time and the moment in which it would reach us, it is not difficult to make an analysis regarding the inconsistencies of this pseudotheory. Perhaps supported by recent discoveries of extrasolar planets, a reinterpretation of biblical scriptures or simple ignorance, it has been postulated that Hercolubus is a giant planet 5 or 6 times the mass of Jupiter, inevitably approaching Earth. It is no coincidence that in none No reference to this enormous planet mentions the celestial coordinates to find it in the sky, even though NASA has supposedly acknowledged its existence, as well as several astronomers. In fact, and in an incredible effort to try to avoid its refutation, some versions even cite that Hercolubus is composed of a "light-absorbing material" that "keeps it out of the visible spectrum"; in other words, it would also be invisible...