Cause for Alarm?
The year 2011 was an ample time for stories about cosmic destruction. In particular, a curious article about a doomsday event was posted on the now defunct Helium.com.
It was written by the late Terrance Aym and based on an article posted by the Russian news agency, Ria Novosti. Both articles reported on a Russian scientist’s dire warning that a large asteroid was going to impact Earth in 2036. Aym’s article, however, made the event more dire than the other.
The astronomer, Leonid Sokolov (a real person), revealed the orbital path of the asteroid, Apophis (a real asteroid), and where it will be in 2036. He never concluded with certainty that Earth was in peril. Instead, he mentioned that there was a possible — but very unlikely — that an asteroid can hit Earth at that time.
Despite the dim prospects of this happening, Aym ran with it, claiming that this was going to be inevitable.
Misinterpretation Leaves Scientists Shocked
This was surprising news to many astronomers, especially for Sokolov. In fact, he was seemingly flabbergasted when he heard that his announcement had been interpreted as a doomsday prediction.
On top of that, he first heard of this when American astronomer and popular blogger, Bill Plait interviewed him for a segment in Bad Astronomy (also published in 2011 for Discover Magazine).
The 2011, interview was basically an exchange of email. Still, it revealed much about:
- The true trajectory of the asteroid;
- The frustration Solokov seeing his work and words misrepresented;
- And how false reporting, especially those created for the sake of sensationalism can unnecessarily create fear among the populous; and
- And the extent of said online writers will go to create a viral hit among readers.
Brief History on Aym
In many respects, Aym was a talented writer. However, he was mysterious, too. It’s not certain if that is his real name (the name is similar to a sailor that played a pivotal role in the Flying Dutchman myth). Even his death nearly a decade ago is suspect.
Throughout, the mid 2000s to early 2010s, Aym became a prolific writer. Much of his stuff were on fringe sites or content sites such as Helium. Eventually, he published a book on Amazon to some success.
Still, he was controversial. He was a self-proclaimed libertarian that often went after certain politicians. In addition, he dived deep into conspiracy theories and the paranormal. Eventually, he attracted the attention of many notable figures within this sphere of influences.
In at least one occasion, his article received national attention. This pertained to an article about a possible disaster of seeping methane caused by the Horizon off-shore rig explosion and fire in the Gulf of Mexico. He wrote that this may have triggered a possible apocalyptic explosion in the future. The story made its round on mainstream media. Most importantly, it went viral before being debunked.
Also, he attracted the skeptics such as Plait. This was due, in part, to Aym’s pseudo-scientific articles.
Despite his passing from cancer, Aym’s article are still alive. They can be found on several sites. In terms of his asteroid article, it went viral. And, like his other articles it is still published on various sites including this one (back then, before Google cracked down on this, writers could simultaneously post the same article on various sites).
This particular article created a stir among its readers. In fact, it was reported that Plait was made aware of this article when readers of his blog inquired about the article and its topic. No doubt, a misconception about the asteroid’s trajectory was born, thanks in part to this article. Most importantly, it could’ve damaged the reputation of a scientist, as well as the science behind it.
Tale of Two Articles
As mentioned, there are two versions of this article. The first Russian article was titled “Russian astronomers predict Apophis-Earth collision in 2036” . It was originally written and released by the Russian news service Ria Novosti on January 26, 2011.
The second, and possibly the most popular one, came out a day later. Aym’s version deviated from the original in several ways. First, he changed the title to “Astronomers Now Predict Killer Asteroid Will Hit the Earth 2036.” No doubt, Aym had a catchy headline. This was something he excelled at.