There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and
great signs from heaven. – Luke 21:11
A great amount of attention is focused on the skies in our times. There are several reasons
for this. Scientific advances in observation technologies have allowed us to learn much more
about our space neighbors. We now know much more about the existence and orbits of small
objects that could come near, or even strike the Earth.
Our own ventures into space are a second major reason for this interest. In 2009 an
Iridium communications satellite collided with a Russian Cosmos 2251 satellite directly above
the International Space Station. Space junk is a growing problem. At that time scientists were
trying to keep track of 13,000 pieces of space debris that are tennis ball-sized or bigger.
Asteroids
There is an ―Asteroid Belt‖ between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The NASA site
reports that Scientists estimate that there are more than 750,000 asteroids with diameters larger
than 3/5 mile (1 kilometer), and there are millions of smaller asteroids124
. Many of them are
known to intersect the Earth’s orbit. (At the writing of the first edition of this book, it was
thought that there might be 30,000 asteroids in our Solar System. Only about 5,000 had been
identified at that time.)
Most known asteroids are not a direct threat to Earth. NASA list less than 100 that could
impact Earth. These are known as Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs). NASA says the odds that they
will strike Earth in our lifetime are virtually zero. However, the various craters on Earth remind
us that it has happened in the past.
In 1937 the asteroid Hermes came very close to earth. It passed within 500,000 miles,
only twice the distance between the Earth the Moon. This is a “near miss.” Our gravitational pull
can affect something that passes this close.
In 1989 an asteroid that was 5 miles in diameter came dangerously close. It will pass
again some time after the turn of the century.
Russell Chandler, former religion editor for the Los Angeles Times, reports in his book
called Doomsday, that
On March 23, 1989, a half-mile-wide asteroid flew through Earth’s path at forty-six thousand
miles an hour. Nobody saw it coming. A scientific team convened by Congress a year later noted
that “the Earth had been at that point only six hours earlier.” Had it struck the Earth, it would
have caused a disaster unprecedented in human history.125
Some asteroids we know about are:
Ceres – largest known – 580 miles diameter126
Pallas – 379 miles diameter
Vesta – 336 miles diameter
Junu – 120 miles diameter
Icarus – 1 mile diameter: a “small flying mountain.”
In the book of Revelation one often reads about a “falling star.” The Greek word for star
is aster. This word is the basis for “Esther” and “asteroid.”
Scientists have often suggested that an earlier collision with an asteroid may have caused
mass extinction and the onset of an ice age. However, a literal interpretation of the Book of
Genesis would suggest these events were caused by the great flood of Noah’s days.
Meteors and Meteorites
These are “boulder-sized” asteroids. The largest one discovered was about 70 tons. They
are often called “shooting stars,” since they leave bright streaks in the atmosphere as they burn
up. Those that do not completely burn up before hitting the earth are called meteorites.
One hit Arizona in prehistoric times causing a crater 4,100 feet across and 600 feet deep!
About 500 of them strike the earth each year. About 120 impact sites are known.
Comets
We hear of comets occasionally, such as Haley’s Comet, The Swift Tuttle Comet, and the
Hale-Bopp Comet.
In 1994, Shoemaker-Levy 9, a comet with 21 fragments collided with Jupiter from July
16 through 22. The speed of this “comet train” was 37 miles per second (133,200 mph). This is
60 times the speed of an average bullet! (The energy carried by a moving object is proportional
to the velocity squared!) At comet speed, one could go from New York to Los Angeles in 1
minute and 22 seconds. The first chunk of this comet hit Jupiter with a force of perhaps 6 million
hydrogen bombs.127 It was photographed by powerful telescopes on earth that showed that it
caused a mushroom cloud of gas nearly 1000 miles into space, and left a dark splotch, half the
size of Earth.
The combined size of the 21 pieces was between 1/2 mile and 2 1/2 miles in diameter.
The combined energy could be 20 million megatons (compare the largest bomb ever made: the
Soviet’s 58 megaton behemoth)! This total impact of Shoemaker-Levy 9 was greater than the
combined force of all nuclear devices ever made.
One writer said that such a comet train hitting the Earth could incinerate whole countries
and produce a dust cloud that would bring on nuclear winter. It would kill millions, or perhaps
billions, of people.
In 1908 a comet in Siberia flattened the surrounding forests for 40 miles, and could be
felt more than 100 miles away. Pressure waves from this event were recorded in London.
Coronal Mass Eruptions / Solar Storms
On Aug. 1, 2010 a few hours of heavy activity on the Sun produced a large Coronal Mass
Eruption (CME) that NASA said produced large clouds of charged particles that could carry up
to ten billion tons of plasma. ―They expand away from the sun at speeds as high as a million
miles an hour.‖128 This phenomenon caused an aurora all around the Earth similar to the
Northern Lights, but it did not cause damage. In the past, CMEs have knocked out satellites and
shut down electrical power grids. Scientists say the event marks the awakening of the Sun to its
regular 11 year cycle of activity, which is expected to peak in 2012 or 2013. According to
NASA, if we were to have the same kind of ―perfect storm‖ as the so-called Carrington event of
1859, we could expect “disruption of the transportation, communication, banking and finance
systems, and government services; the breakdown of the distribution of potable water owing to
pump failure, and the loss of perishable foods and medications because of a lack of
refrigeration.”129
Ecological Issues
Many of the ecological problems of our age are related to the skies. Some of these are:
Depletion of the Ozone layer and the resultant increase in Ultra Violet Rays reaching the Earth.
Nuclear Radiation from bombs, power plants and satellites,
Space Junk falling every few days from old satellites and their rocket boosters,
Acid Rain, which is a result of dangerous chemicals in the air, and
Solar storms, mentioned above.
UFOs
Periodic reports about UFOs may be setting us up for great deception. After decades of
inquiry there is still serious interest in the Roswell, New Mexico stories, and accounts of the
findings of the Air Force’s Project Blue Book, which supposedly give some credence to the
existence of these objects.
Some prophecy scholars think that the belief in UFOs might cause authorities of the
Tribulation Period to use them as an explanation of the disappearance of Christians during the
rapture.
And then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of
his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9The coming of the lawless one will be in
accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and
wonders, 10and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because
they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11For this reason God sends them a powerful
delusion so that they will believe the lie. – 2 Thessalonians 2:8-11
Some New Age practitioners are already suggesting that extraterrestrials might someday
“cleanse” the Earth of troublemakers. Interest in such UFOs goes in cycles. There is a current
rise in interest, and several recent movies about UFOs.
During one week in September of 2010 two sensational stories, reported by major news
sources, brought UFOs and extraterrestrial life back into the public eye. The first was about a
press conference in Washington D.C. UFO researcher Robert Hastings announced that some 100
former and retired members of the US Air Force claim sightings of UFOs and say that aliens
interfered with nuclear weapons.
The second big story was that the United Nations was seriously considering appointing
an ―Ambassador to Extraterrestrials.‖ The most likely person to be appointed to such a position
was named as Mazlan Othman, a Malaysian astrophysicist. News sources were asked to recast
the story to include that Othman denied the appointment. However, she does already hold the
position of director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.
Many Christians suspect that UFO appearances are often demonic manifestations. In any
event, the end of the age will be a time of unprecedented deception. Satan’s power to imitate and
counterfeit the miracles of God will increase and in those days, separating the real from the
counterfeit will become increasingly more difficult.
