There’s a new disaster movie coming out called 2012 and it promises to be a special effects masterpiece. I’m sure there will be plenty of tidal waves, buildings collapsing, and famous monuments torn to pieces.

The idea from the movie came from an old prophecy that the world will end on December 21, 2012. This date coincides with the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar and some superstitious folks have taken that to mean that doomsday will occur.

Believers of the doomsday prophecy offer different versions of the end of days. The most popular claim is that a mysterious planet called Nibiru or Planet X will rocket into the inner solar system and either hit the Earth or come close enough to cause worldwide devastation. Picture massive tidal flooding, earthquakes, or the Earth spinning out of its solar orbit and into the depths of space.

They even say that NASA has known about the mystery planet since the early 1980s but has covered it up to avoid widespread panic. Not surprisingly, NASA denies these claims.

Other versions of the doomsday scenario involve gamma ray bursts destroying the Earth’s magnetic field, a planetary alignment disrupting Earth’s orbit, a 180 degree continental shift that would literally redraw the planet’s maps, comet impacts, and a massive solar flare that would wipe out life on Earth.

All of these scenarios could be absolutely devastating to Earth. But are they really possible? Or are they just crackpot theories with some pseudo-science mixed in to make them sound realistic?

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.