Oklahomily - Comet fragment could come close

NASA's Near Earth Object Program chart currently shows 70 objects associated with the dying comet 73P Schwassman-Wachmann 3 that have orbit tracks that could put them within 0.1 AU (Astronomical Units) of Earth. An AU, by the way, is the distance between the Earth and the Sun.

One of these, the fragment labelled BD, on May 11 could come as close as .00010 AU of our planet, or .04 LD (lunar distances). Depending on how you do your calculations it could be as close as 6,000 or 10,000 miles.

In comparison to the rest of the solar system, this is remarkably close.

We bring this to your attention today because the mainstream press is focused on 1) the price of gasoline; 2) the fallout from Monday's "Day Without (Illegal) Immigrants", 3) the continuing buildup of tensions between Iran and the West, and 4) how sad that Gina Davis is no longer president of the United States. We do not intend to be alarmist but you might at least wish to know that NASA's early dismissal of concerns about the comet, specifically repeated statements that nothing would come within 6.5 million, er, make that 5.5 million miles of Earth, are now refuted on one of its own web sites.

We noted with some humor the first paragraph of an opinion piece dealing with energy prices:

"If a meteor were rushing headlong toward the earth and destruction were near, we could not be more excited and disturbed than we are about gasoline prices."

The rest of the article goes on to discuss oil and gasoline prices.

A former French air traffic controller sparked a short-lived bit of interest in the comet fragments until NASA put out the word to the press that there was nothing to fear. Eric Julien, who once directed air traffic at Paris' Orly Airport, said he was given a vision of a comet fragment striking the Atlantic Ocean on May 25, creating 200 ft. tidal waves and causing underseas volcanic activity to increase, causing the ocean to boil. From here we pick up on last Saturday's online report in the U.K. Daily Record:

"The size of this space object will be too small for our telescopes since it will be a small lagging fragment of a comet. Scientists will be surprised by this object, having little time to see it coming."

Julien says his predictions - which have spread on the internet - are revenge for American hardline policy towards Iran. And he says he is backed by a crop circle he once saw that pictured the solar system with the Earth missing.

A NASA spokesman admitted the comet had broken into 40 pieces, but none would come closer than 5.5 million miles from us.

He added: "Neither the main comet nor any of its fragments pose a danger to Earth."

Astronomers hope to see showers of shooting stars.

Anyone who predicts doom and gloom based on interpretations of crop circles and "visions" isn't going to be taken seriously, obviously.

But as we noted last week in our special report on comet strikes in Catholic prophecy, it might be wrong to totally dismiss out of hand the potential for a fragmet of this comet to encounter Earth. There are other, more recent prophecies, that include visions of portions of America under water. Despite Mr. Julien's credibility problem it is not totally out of the realm of possibility that he indeed had a vision. Even Jesus remarked that prophetic utterances can issue from the lips of persons who are not going to heaven. (Matthew 7:22).

What we notice most about the NASA dismissal of April 29 are that new information contradicts the 5.5 million mile distance, and the final sentence, "Astronomers hope to see a shower of shooting stars." If there is debris for meteor showers, is there not at least the small possibility that some of these "particles" could be large enough to pose a threat?

Again, this is not to cause anyone to panic. It is instead a call for prayer and a call for personal reflection. Maybe some time in the next week it would be a good time to think of one's "trespasses" against God and neighbor, and if needed, to seek forgiveness. This is a prudent move at any time of any year. For Catholics, it might be an auspicious time to seek the graces available in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession), as well as asking other to forgive you for any real or perceived transgressions. (It is a holy thing to ask forgiveness even of those "perceptions" of wrong-doing that may not be accurate but are no less harmful to relationships. It is a sign of deep humility, and that is pleasing to God.)

For these purposes alone God may have arranged for the signs and wonders of a fragmenting comet. The faithful man or woman who believes that all things are ordered in the heavens and the earth will find it hard to ignore the arrival of 73P Schassmann-Wachmann 3 as merely a cosmic coincidence. The only aspects of our future not written in stone, at least from our perspective, is our free will to act upon the order of events that our Creator presents before us.

At least think about it.