The internet has always been fueled by doomsday conspiracy theories. In 2000, it was Y2K. In 2012, it was the Mayan apocalypse. With the total solar eclipse in 2017, it’s been Nibiru, the mysterious rogue planet that allegedly orbits the Sun every 3,600 years and is set to collide with Earth next month. Don’t panic.
Tabloids and sci-fi novelists have propagated theories about Nibiru, or “Planet X,” for decades. The fact is, humankind is much more likely to obliterate itself through nuclear war than to get pummeled by a giant, mythical planet that’s never actually been seen (except briefly in Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013).