George Lucas gives nod to 2012 doomsday; NASA refutes

Various media are reporting Seth Rogen’s claim about filmmaker George Lucas’ belief in 2012 Doomsday theories.

The Toronto Sun said Rogen, Lucas and Spielberg were in a “movie meeting.” Rogen,  who’s currently doing a lot of publicity for the new film ‘The Green Hornet', said, “George Lucas sits down and seriously proceeds to talk for around 25 minutes about how he thinks the world is gonna end in the year 2012, like, for real. He thinks it. He’s going on about the tectonic plates and all the time Spielberg is, like, rolling his eyes, like, ’My nerdy friend won’t shut up, I’m sorry...’”

Rogen also quipped he’d like to have a seat on Lucas’ spaceship—the filmmaker must have one right? Of
course even if you have a spaceship, it’d be a challenge to find a place where you could go to survive.

There may be a reprieve, however. In October, 2010, ABC News reported some researchers were questioning the accuracy of the 2012 date purportedly drawn from the ancient Mayan calendar.

NASA refutes the 2012 apocalypse in a Q&A on the agency website. NASA stated, “The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012. Then these two fables were linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012 -- hence the predicted doomsday date of December 21, 2012.”

NASA also pointed out that even though one long count period does end in 2012, another long count period for the Mayan calendar would then begin.

NASA also discredits claims that another planet such as Eris will collide with Earth.

In 2009 The US Report featured a story about 2012. That article remains popular today. TUSR wrote about physicist Michio Kaku who advised in an interview that doomsday proponents “not quit your day job.” Kaku also gave his opinion on the disaster film ‘2012’, saying he’d he’d give the movie “an ‘A’ for special effects and and ‘F’ on science. “

Theories about apocalyptic events in 2012 have spawned a cottage industry comprising web sites, books, smart phone applications, merchandise and the afore-mentioned film.

The NASA Q&A suggests there’s no reason to fear the world will end in 2012. NASA posited: “For any claims of disaster or dramatic changes in 2012, where is the science? Where is the evidence? There is none, and for all the fictional assertions, whether they are made in books, movies, documentaries or over the Internet, we cannot change that simple fact. There is no credible evidence for any of the assertions made in support of unusual events taking place in December 2012.”

Despite rejection by experts, the 2012 doomsday theorists may gain steam if reports about Lucas giving the apocalypse a nod are true.

This is an artist's concept of Kuiper Belt object Eris and its tiny satellite Dysnomia. Eris is the large object at the bottom of the illustration. A portion of its surface is lit by the Sun, located in the upper left corner of the image. Eris's moon, Dysnomia, is located just above and to the left of Eris. The Hubble Space Telescope and Keck Observatory took images of Dysnomia's movement from which astronomer Mike Brown (Caltech) precisely calculated Eris to be 27 percent more massive than Pluto. Artwork Credit: NASA, ESA, Adolph Schaller (for STScI); caption credit: NASA.

(Filed by Kay B. Day/Jan. 19, 2011)