There’s something strange going on in our solar system.
In early May, the NASA asteroid-watching service, the Near-Earth Object Program headquartered at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, and also the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, tracked an unknown object from deep space heading in our direction. The object—dubbed 2010 KQ—is a few meters long and is considered too small to be an asteroid, and NASA feels it is “artificial”. Object 2010 KQ made a close pass by Earth, coming in almost to the distance of the Moon’s orbit, pulled away, and is now returning into the outer regions of the solar system. They don’t expect it to return until 2036.
In a The Register article, it stated: “The object has used no propulsion during the time NASA has had it under observation. However the spacewatch boffins believe that it must have moved under its own power at some point, given its position and velocity”. (Say what? It moved on its own?!)
But before you get too excited: No. NASA doesn’t think it’s an alien probe sent to spy on Earth. Their explanation is: it’s a discarded rocket booster from one of our old space programs that got caught up in a wide orbit.
How strange. Since when do old booster rockets turn themselves off-and-on?
The above story is similar to another near-earth object, 1991 VG. On November 6th 1991, astronomer Jim Scotti discovered this object with the Spacewatch Telescope on Kitt Peak, Arizona. 1991 VG seemed to be about 10 meters in size, but did not appear to be an asteroid. As it approached earth, it was observed to have a “…strong, rapid brightness variations which can be interpreted as transient specular reflections from the surfaces of a rotating spacecraft.” In other words, 1991 VG was pulsating a light. But this was explained away as sunlight bouncing off a reflective surface. What did Scotti think it was? In his notes, he writes: “My guess is that it is indeed a natural object, but if it is manmade, perhaps it is a Saturn IVB stage from one of the early Apollo missions.” Once again: space junk from our space program.
My favorite mysterious place is the Kuipers Belt. For those of you who don’t know where that is, the Kuipers Belt is a region of space along the ecliptic outside orbit of Neptune. It contains countless comets and “super comets” or planetesimals. It’s existance was predicted in 1951 by Gerald Kuiper, for whom the belt was named. Then in March 1992, and in rapid succession thereafter, a series of icy planetesimals, or “super comets” have been discovered orbiting the sun beyond Neptune. Pluto, once classified as a planet, and now down-graded to a “dwarf”, is located in the Kuipers Belt. Other “dwarf” planets discovered here are, Ceres, Chiron, and Makemake.
So what’s so strange about the Kuipers Belt? Well, first there is Makemake, discovered on March 31, 2005. I found it odd that Makemake can be seen with a backyard amateur telescope, but yet astronomers couldn’t find it until 2005. It was described as “shining”—explaining it must be covered in ice and reflecting the distant sun’s light. So how did astronomers miss a shiny object—its size just slightly smaller than Pluto—for so long? Could it be because it wasn’t there before 2005?
Then there are all the disappearing objects in the Kuipers Belt. One day they are there, and the next day they are gone. But I’m not the only person who thinks the Kuipers Belt is a strange place. In 2004, two British astronomers, Gregory Matloff and Anthony R. Martin, submitted a paper to the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society to propose an infrared search of the Kuiper Belt for artificial objects (“A Proposed Infrared Search for Artificial Kuiper Belt Objects,” JBIS 57, pp. 283-287). I did a double-take when I read the title of that scientific paper. What are these British scientists suggesting? That there’s a colony of ETs at the end of our solar system?
Next, is Saturn’s giant rotating hexagon cloud. It is located at the planet’s north pole, and, according to NASA, it’s 65 miles deep and 15,000 miles wide. Scientists are baffled by the geometric-shaped cloud, and have no explanation as to why it’s there. One observer states he could see a pyramid and an eye in the center of the hexagon cloud (a la Illuminati? Personally, I don’t see the pyramid).
Look what’s happening to Jupiter. In July 1994, the “String of Pearl” comet crashed into the planet. In 2005, astronomers began to notice it’s famous “red spot”—discovered in the 17th century—is now shrinking and changing colors. On June 3rd, 2010, Anthony Wesley, an Australian amateur astronomer, documented a comet or asteroid hit Jupiter. Scientists were baffled that there was no debris cloud after the strike. Last year, Wesley noticed a huge black spot on the planet’s surface, indicating another possible asteroid impact (isn’t it strange that only Jupiter attracts them?). And, it was only last month, he produced pictures showing the stripe of dark red clouds in the planet’s southern atmosphere had vanished.
Could all of these occurrences be artificial events? Is Jupiter slowly, but surely, turning into a second sun? So, what is going on in the Kuipers Belt? Are we being watched?
