Is Planet X the Reason for Earth's Previous Mass Extinctions?
The alleged existence of the so-called "Planet X" is a long-standing theory that many scientists, space enthusiasts, and astronomers seems to believe in. As a matter of fact, there is a bunch of people out there that dedicate their entire lives tracking this celestial body that orbits the sun on the outskirts of the solar system. However, no one is really more into it than Daniel Whitmire.
The name may not ring a bell, but he is largely responsible for the term "Planet X." He coined the term in a paper that was published in Nature back in 1985, when he was still a mathematics instructor at the University of Arkansas. At that time, there was a buzz about the hypothetical celestial body called "Planet 9" that could be in collision course to the Earth sometime in the future. But Whitmire is making headlines once again, revealing a new theory that this planet may have been responsible for the previous mass extinctions our planet experienced in the past through massive comet showers.
According to Whitmire, via Discovery News, Planet X, just like Earth and the rest of the planet in the solar system, is orbiting the Sun. While its behavior appears normal, there is one thing it does every 27 million years that affects the Earth: it passes through the Kuiper belt and disturbs the comets that on their way to the Sun, and in the process, some of them collide with Earth.
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He said that there is evidence to prove this since the examination of fossil records come to a conclusion that indeed there were comet showers that occurred roughly every 27 million years.
There always have been lively discussions about the existence of this ninth planet or Planet X in the fringes of the solar system, but Whitmire's theory is just difficult to prove if that planet isn't found. There are some chilling coincidences with Earth's history of mass extinctions, but there is no conclusive proof to figure out what caused them. Perhaps the discovery of this "outer" planet will provide experts some answers.
