Planet-Dissolving Dust Cloud Headed Toward Earth

Status: Fake; an example of the Weekly World News Effect.
I've received a couple of emails about this article on Yahoo! News detailing a cosmic "chaos cloud" that will obliterate the earth in 2014:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Scared-stiff astronomers have detected a mysterious mass they've dubbed a "chaos cloud" that dissolves everything in its path, including comets, asteroids, planets and entire stars -- and it's headed directly toward Earth! Discovered April 6 by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the swirling, 10 million-mile- wide cosmic dust cloud has been likened to an "acid nebula" and is hurtling toward us at close to the speed of light -- making its estimated time of arrival 9:15 a.m. EDT on June 1, 2014.

If it's not immediately obvious by its subject matter that the story is a joke, then it's source (the Weekly World News) should be a giveaway. It joins the time-traveling insider trader and the bogus japanese-to-english phrase book as examples of WWN stories mistaken as news, thanks to Yahoo!'s policy of not listing them as satire in their news feed.

Journalism

Posted on Tue Sep 20, 2005



Comments

The real question is whether this "chaos cloud" will get here before Planet X does and its gravity tears the earth apart. Film at eleven.
Posted by Captain Al  on  Tue Sep 20, 2005  at  01:24 PM
You would think the 25% of U.S. Senators who are extraterrestrials (according to another Weekly World News story) would do something about this.
Posted by Big Gary in Dallas  on  Tue Sep 20, 2005  at  01:48 PM
It was clear this was a hoax

When something travels towards you at the speed of light you don't see it until it hits.

Besides it sounds like some awful disaster movie plot. I won't be going to see it.
Posted by Sharruma  on  Tue Sep 20, 2005  at  03:00 PM
Heh.. Weekly World News.. I've always wondered if they are actually *trying* anymore.. I mean what happened to the old standbys that were actually plausible? What's the point of a Hoax that's mind-blowingly easy to debunk?
Posted by Bobcat  on  Tue Sep 20, 2005  at  10:49 PM
Who needs a giant dust cloud when you have Katrina & Rita?
Posted by Big G  on  Wed Sep 21, 2005  at  08:32 AM
Legitimate news sources tend not to use exclamation marks to indicate the exciting nature of the story, as in: "-and it's headed toward earth!"
I like the concept, though - planet-dissolving dust, heh.
Posted by steve  on  Wed Sep 21, 2005  at  12:48 PM
Who needs a giant dust cloud when you have George W. Bush?
Posted by Metaclypse the Older  on  Mon Sep 26, 2005  at  09:14 AM
"won't see it till it hits"??? sure only if it was always heading at you, what about if that thing was heading in another direction and has recently changed course heading towards earth now, we would have seen it before it started heading towards earth so your theory is wrong and I'm correct. we are all doomed, help.
Posted by science man  on  Wed Oct 12, 2005  at  10:00 AM
Your all just saying that because your scared crapless, and its conferting to think its all a hoax....... *darts eyes back and forth*
Posted by Me  on  Thu Jan 19, 2006  at  01:00 PM
Who needs a giant dust cloud when you have Katrina & Rita?
Posted by Big G on Wed Sep 21, 2005 at 06:32 AM

Good Point
Posted by Alastor  on  Sat Jun 03, 2006  at  08:21 PM
Im still tring to find info to convince myself if this is true or not..., but i really have no clue at all...
Posted by someone  on  Fri Jan 18, 2008  at  08:44 PM
its the day of judgement. we cant run away from it
Posted by sasha  on  Sun Feb 24, 2008  at  07:02 AM
something that big we should all start to see it coming our way dont you think, maybe not right now; but at least a year or two in advance we would notice parts of the sky darkning, and soon after all those stupid selfish people rioting. that in its self would be a chaos cloud, and its also good reason why a goverment would not tell its poeple of a so called pending doom. and as for a space ark. LOL! not in our life time, im not saying that there could be other spices out there to help, but I dont think so. why would anyone out there help a spicies like ours out, when we cant even help our selves. as a spices we are not very nice when you think about it. would you help someone out that is killing, or stealing or will stab you in the back givin the chance. our only hope, if this is ture and like I said I DOUBT IT! would be god. not some space ark or alien spices within our goverment LOL!
Posted by matthew  on  Fri Mar 14, 2008  at  03:01 PM
This is the first time I've heard about the dissolving cloud coming towards Earth. Could this be the bright star, everyone is saying is Jupter, but has been in the same spot in the sky for 11 months now? Besides, planets don't flicker, this light does, planets and stars move due to earth roation, this one doesn't--the space station also moves around in orbit--this celestial body is stationary. In the Winder we can see it from 7 pm to 7 a.m., well after the sun rises. What is it? I don't know and I don't think it is Jupter or any other planet, it it was it would be in an unusual close orbit to earth and NASA and Astronomy Magazine would be reporting on on it over and over, and they say nothing on this. But, this dissolving cloud is very interesting and I have never heard about it before. Thanks for sharing it. In return, I recommend getting prepared for any emergency it might bring in advance before it arrives in 20014, and I recommend going to http://www.simplylivingsmart.com for some simple ways to get prepared for any type of destruction or situation that may come our way.
Good luck and thank you for sharing the dissolving cloud.
Posted by Egypt Sasson  on  Tue Sep 30, 2008  at  10:34 PM
is it peculiar different religion tell almost the same way for the world to end
Posted by Malaysia Insider  on  Sat Jan 09, 2010  at  01:57 AM
if planet is real and all signs say that something effecting the earth, more and more quakes and getting bigger bigger,here's a known fact, IN 1995 there were 4 and only active volcanoes, above ground, 1996-9,1997-12,1998-13,1999-18.2000-22,2001-35, after2001, they were order to stop releasing stats. something big is happening and our gov'ts and world gov't know, to avoid mass hystaira, gov't round the world have been building underground.city's for the elite,like under denver airport, one of hundreds, going none stop 24/7. past 15+ years. FOLKS IT WEREGOING TO BE HIT WITH SOMETHING BIG, NO MEDIA WOULD SAY A WORD TILL ALLOWED BY THE GOV'T. IT ALL CONTROLLED. DON'T BELIEVE IT,why were we told that sonny bono, died in a sking accdent when dr's said he was beatin to death no signs of hitting a tree.when it was reported he was going to expose a high gov't official something really bad. and he suddenly end up dead. we live in a very corrupt world, go to INFOWARS.COM. AND NEWSWATCHMAGAZINE.ORG
Posted by bnzai  on  Sat Jan 23, 2010  at  08:18 PM
darn and I thought my vision was nearly complete. i suppose I'll have to waith longer for the impending doom cloud fro outerspace
Posted by Earth Activist  on  Tue Aug 31, 2010  at  01:30 PM
well. i dont believe in an ''acid nebula'' and so, i think something like this doesn't exist at all. so dont worry. only thing you need to worry about is friday 21st december 2012 😉
Posted by goth247  on  Tue Sep 28, 2010  at  06:43 AM
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