Planet X popular research featured prominently at the Laughlin UFO conference in Nevada last month (February 2003).  Right from the word go I would like to point out that I wasn’t present, either as a speaker or a delegate, despite the efforts of Lloyd Pye and others to persuade the organisers to include me at the last minute.

My ‘Dark Star’ research falls into a middle category between the more popular ‘Planet X’ material and the mainstream academic and scientific work carried out in the universities.  In the eyes of the popular researchers I pay far too much attention to what the astronomers and astrophysicists have to say, (and thus fail to recognise when they may be unwittingly succumbing to a government conspiracy regarding the imminent advent of Nibiru).  And on the other hand, the astronomers lump me in with the ‘doom and gloom’ brigade who have littered Planet X research with a litany of unconfirmable claims and scare-mongering.

So I was interested to read the comments of Graham W. Birdsall, editor of the British newsstand publication ‘UFO Magazine’ regarding Laughlin’s treatment of the subject.  Graham also treads the sometimes-thin line between mainstream science and frontier speculation, and can generally be trusted to give an objective viewpoint on such matters.  He attended the Laughlin conference and wrote an extensive review article, including this section on the day devoted specially to Planet X:

“Monday 3rd February

“All of the lectures this day were devoted to the mysterious ‘Planet X’ and its supposed imminent return to our solar system.  Only by attending such lectures was it possible to discern the enormous level of interest in a topic that has yet to fully register outside of the U.S.  Mark Hazelwood, author of ‘Blindsided’, is an experiencer who still fails to understand why he was singled out to relate news of the impending arrival of ‘Planet X’.

“Frankly, given his prediction that life on Earth is set to become traumatic for most, but that people like him are likely to be whisked to safety by some passing alien spacecraft in the nick of time, was disturbingly familiar.  Shades of Comet Hale-Bopp and Heaven’s Gate?

“I made a mental note to guard against this in my own lecture later in the week and duly did so.

“Further contributions by Professor James McCanney, Sean David Morton and Donald Ware fell short of providing definitive proof that ‘something big’ really is heading our way.  That said, Professor mcCanney certainly spelt out the potential catastrophic effects that might result from a near flyby of a rogue planet or comet with the Earth/.

“I was struck by the sheer number of researchers and experiencers – from different parts of the United States and the rest of the world (the majority of whom had never met before) who spoke of the same thing: that some form of heavenly body has entered the solar system and is heading our way.

“Many referred to anomalous tracks on the SOHO satellite, and although these had no direct connection to anomalous objects reported by Mike Murray in his EuroSETI lectures at the National Space Centre in January of this year, there is no doubting that SOHO is generating some heated questions.  The only people who can provide definitive answers are astronomers, and if they happen to discover something ‘odd’ coming Earth’s way in the coming weeks and months ahead, then expect an official announcement.  The entire solar system is warming up, and our Sun is behaving very oddly indeed.  These are scientific facts, but science, we are told, can’t account for them.  Believe that and you will believe anything.

“I can only reiterate that to my knowledge a number of astronomers have been told to drop everything and concentrate their efforts on monitoring changes to the earth’s magnetic field.  So governments know.  As for the public at large?  Need one ask?” (1)

Personally I concur with much of this, and would like to add a few points of my own.  There is absolutely no substantive proof that a rogue planet has entered the planetary zone.  Recently, there was a lot of speculation regarding a comet at perihelion (Comet NEAT, I believe), and at one point there were claims that this cosmic object was several times the size of Jupiter!  Thus one and the same as the brown dwarf companion that I first proposed several years ago.  In fact, the object in question was so small that it was unlikely to survive the perihelion transit around the Sun, succumbing to the solar effects that so often break up such comets.  So much for an incoming monstrosity.

And herein lies the problem.  The rumour mill on the Internet can pick up news about a perfectly harmless and normal astronomical event and project onto that the most dire consequences for all of mankind, in the name of ‘Planet X’.  Graham Birdsall has managed to lend the subject a degree of credence, where he could so easily have dismissed it out of hand by its association with the likes of Mark Hazelwood’s claims for the imminent destruction of our civilisation (which could happen, of course, but is related more to the N.W.O.’s current exploits in the Gulf).  Graham is to be commended for doing so, because there is actually good work being done on this subject.  It’s just that the good work is not pointing towards an imminent apocalypse.

Let's talk Science

But that doesn’t mean that the subject of Planet X is insignificant.  That is why more and more mainstream astronomers and planetary scientists are making room in their theories for a substantial body somewhere beyond Pluto.  The evidence is not from SOHO, but from the anomalies in the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt.  Several of the newly-discovered bodies that make up that vast belt beyond Neptune behave in ways that confound standard models for the solar system.  They imply the potential for planetary migration, which in turn provides us with the potential for a rogue planet out there pulling the comets around.

Then there’s the startling gap in the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt, one that implies the passage of a massive planet-sized body sweeping part of the Belt clean, like some of Saturn’s inner moons do among its Rings.  Further evidence, if any were needed, that one or more planets could still be out there.  And the astronomers are working on this angle, and achieving results: for instance, the undiscovered planet appears to have an eccentric orbit, according to a London-based astronomer modelling its orbit against the observed sweeping effect in the Belt.  It cuts through the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt to a point 53AU away, creating the 'Kuiper Cliff'.  Its outer limit is unknown.

The astronomers have run up against a serious problem, though.  The gap in the Kuiper Belt indicates the presence of a very substantial body orbiting the Sun out there.  They reason that the undiscovered planet must be currently lying within about 80AU, yet,  if it was, it absolutely should have been detected by now.  So there is a paradox, one that is only answered if one considers the possibility that the orbit is highly eccentric.  Therefore, although the closest approach to the planetary zone causes Planet X to cut through the Kuiper Belt and sweep out the debris there, its highly eccentric orbit places it currently beyond our range of detection.

Which is pretty much how Sitchin, and the ancient myths he interprets, describe it.

The only problem that remains is that Zecharia Sitchin insists that Nibiru returns to the asteroid belt during its perihelion passage.  Clearly, if the body 'sweeps out' the Kuiper Belt upon passing through it, then it should do the same to the asteroid belt.  The very fact that the asteroid belt remains intact indicates that Nibiru's perihelion passage occurs elsewhere.

And that is the problem I am currently working on.  It seems that 53AU is too far for even a small brown dwarf to be visibly observed from Earth (an essential criterion for the Dark Star hypothesis about Nibiru to be true), but the asteroid belt is no longer viable as a perihelion location.  Current advocates of an imminent perihelion event would advocate that Nibiru has an Earth-crossing orbit, as I'm sure was discussed at Laughlin, but I am of the opinion that its closest approach is between Jupiter and the Kuiper belt, with the gap in the belt acting as a 'marker' as Nibiru the brown dwarf closes in.

Much of this new work can be read about on the Dark Star Planet X Google Group forum.

I will include a comprehensive thesis about it in my forthcoming book 'Dark Star' (2).

In the meantime, it only remains to point out that we are already a quarter of the way through 2003, and that the anomalous flaming red star has not yet appeared.  So much for the predictions of the experiencers.  I, for one, have more faith in science regarding this question, and things on that front seem to be moving our way.

The 'Installation' and Planet X

One of the speakers at Laughlin was a Russian called Valery Uvarov who has been a full-time Ufologist since 1989.  He has been involved in various organisations devoted to the study of anomalous phenomena, and says that he heads 'The Department for Investigation of Extraterrestrial Civilisation under the Russian Academy of Sciences'. 

Donald Ware notes that Uvarov became the head of the Department of UFO Research, Paleosciences and Paleotechnology for the 'National Security Academy' of Russia in 2002 (3).  This sounds like quite a prestigious post, offering Uvarov much credibility among Ufologists in the West.  The organisation is based in St Petersberg in Russia, but when one of my correspondents tried to reach Valery Uvarov there he was told that they had never heard of him, but that Uvarov might work for their Moscow office.  Well, not according to Uvarov, himself anyway.

So although I have no doubt that Valery Uvarov is a Ufologist, I find that I am unable to verify that he is a bona fide scientist working for a major Russian scientific establishment.  He claims that the Academy is an official Russian government agency, and his superiors are answerable to President Vladimir Putin himself.  This is important because Uvarov has some pretty incredible things to say.  For starters, he stunned Graham 'Dubya' Birdsall by making off-the-cuff references to Nazis in Antarctica (See 'Secrets of Antarctica' pp4-8 UFO Mag Apr 2003).  Birdsall interviewed Uvarov at Laughlin (See 'The Installation', pp60-1, UFO Mag Apr 2003) and quizzed Uvarov about his belief in an 'Installation' in Siberia that 'shot down' the Tunguska meteor of 1908.  This interview has since appeared in Nexus magazine (Nexus June-July, pp59-60) and will be followed up in the next issue with more information.

Surely this is not orthodox Russian scientific opinion?  Uvarov ofered no proof to substantiate his wild claims; no satellite imagery of the alleged site, no published or unpublished scientific reports...nothing.  Instead he claimed to have visited the extremely remote location, even by Russian standards, twice.  The fact that he seems to be getting taken very seriously is because of his claimed qualifications, and position within the Russian academic community.

According to Uvarov the 'Installation' is intimately connected with Planet X:

GWB:  "Are you aware of strange stories or rumours concerning the so-called 'Planet X'?  If some new and heavenly body had entered our Solar System, astronomers would surely detect it and declare its presence."

Valery Uvarov: "I cannot speak for astronomers in the West, but astronomers within our Academy tell us we have nothing to fear.  I have heard people talk about a rotation figure of 3,600 years for this planet, which is in a similar orbit to that of the Earth, but behind the Sun.  We know that this planet and the installation in Siberia are closely connected.  Let me say that we believe that this installation is keeping that planet in a stable orbit.  If the planet were to move, to shift orbit, the entire Solar System would become unstable.  Those of us in the Academy are sure that this planet is inhabited, and that this installation is designed to protect them, and us..."

Taken on face value it would appear that one of Russia's leading scientists is advocating an alien base on Earth placed there by the Anunnaki of Nibiru.  But there are some very big problems with Uvarov's claims.  How could a planet in a 3600 year orbit be located 'behind the Sun'?  Surely its position will remain relatively static against the background field of stars, against which the Sun is seen to move along the ecliptic.  In a metaphorical way Nibiru could be said to be a 'planet behind the Sun', as in ancient North American Indian beliefs, in that it remains hidden for the vast majority of its lengthy orbit, but it could not be said to be physically located behind the Sun.  It is certainly not in a "similar orbit to that of the Earth". No way.  And if Uvarov is imparting knowledge given him by astronomers working for a prestigious scientific oganisation in Russia, then he is either misunderstanding what they are telling him, or else they aren't proper astronomers.

Secondly, how could an 'Installation' based on Earth be able to prevent an orbit shift of a rogue planet at the edges of the solar system?  One could imagine how it might shoot down incoming meteors, but not ward off the attention of a whole planet.  However, Uvarov does mention one piece of speculation that I would agree with, and might even have been gleaned from the Dark Star Theory site in the first place;

"If the planet were to move, to shift orbit, the entire Solar System would become unstable."

He also goes on to discuss a prior orbital change 12,500 years ago that changed the number of days in a year from 360 to our current 365.25.  This, he claims, was the result of an asteroid impact, but offers no evidence to support the theory of such a recent collision.  Again, this material does relate to ideas discussed on this site regarding the end of the last Ice Age, and orbital changes caused by Nibiru.

In this regard, I think it's fair to say that Uvarov is reading about theories relating to Nibiru on the Internet and extrapolating them into his own alien base theories.  This seems more the work of an independent Ufologist than a scientist working for a recognised national research organisation like the Russian Academy of Sciences.

I then received word from a leading Russian author that my suspicions about Valery Uvarov are well founded.  The organisation he is said to be involved with, the 'National Security Academy', is not a bona fide scientific body at all, and Uvarov's claims to be working under the auspices of the prestigious Russian Academy of Sciences seem equally dubious.  This brings into question Uvarov's entire set of claims, and his assertions should be treated with the upmost caution.  I personally wonder whether this questionable testimony by Valery Uvarov is the latest attampt at littering the field of Planet X research with outright disinformation.

Here's a an official Russian document about the 'National Security Academy' obtained from the tax office, which keeps information on the work carried out by all registered companies.  (This document has since disappeared from my files).

This document was obtained for me by a Russian researcher who knows Valery Uvarov, but who wishes to remain anonymous for now.  It is his opinion that Uvarov's claims regarding his career in Russian science are questionable, which would then bring doubt upon the remarkable speculations he has introduced to the alternative science media in the West.  This document shows that the National Security Academy in St Petersburg have no interest in UFOs, or related research.  I have written to Valery Uvarov via e-mail to ask him about all of this, and I copied the enquiry and this document to UFO Magazine, NEXUS magazine and to the organisers of the Laughlin conference in the U.S.  To date I have had no reply from Uvarov, which has further heightened my concern. 

I would recommend that claims made by Valery Uvarov are taken with a large pinch of salt, at least until he makes some efforts to substantiate them.

The Texe Marrs Video

The latest offering on the 2003 bandwagon is a video by Texe Marrs entitled simply  'Planet X'.  The video cover describes the 'Dark Red Star on a Collision Course with Earth'.  It also shows a cometary planet very reminiscent of images used on the Dark Star theory web-site to show how a brown dwarf might appear.

I haven't seen this video, which retails for $28 and is available from 'Power of Prophecy' in Austin, Texas, but the imagery and description of the 'Dark Red Star' indicate that Texe is keen to use some of my ideas about the nature of Nibiru.  Which is fine, of course, because the brown dwarf idea has now become standard fayre among Nibiru researchers, but I would like to make it clear that I am not advocating the imminent arrival of Planet X that this video seems to.  Far from it. 

Nibiru, the  massive solar companion, is nearer the most distant point in its orbital trajectory, or aphelion.  It might appear in about 1750 years time.  It is certainly not about to cause catastophe for our generation.  If it were, it would have been readily detectable by independent astronomers long ago.
 

Written by Andy Lloyd,  13th April 2003, and updated 20th June 2003

author of 'The Dark Star' (2005), 'Ezekiel One' (2009), 'The Followers of Horus' (2010) and 'Darker Stars' (2019)

References:

1) Graham Birdsall  “The Laughlin Experience”  UFO Magazine, March 2003, p25

2)  Andy Lloyd "The Dark Star: The Planet X Evidence" Timeless Voyager Press 2005

  The Dark Star: The Planet X Evidence

3) Donald M. Ware "Report on the 12th Annual International UFO Congress Convention and Film Festival" 14 March 2003

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