The Dark Star: The Planet X Evidence (3 page)

There
is indirect evidence that a body greater in mass than Jupiter is orbiting the
sun. It has been termed the ‘Perturber’, because of its alleged effects upon
comets within the distant Oort Cloud. It may be sufficiently large to fall into
the category of ‘failed stars’ known as brown dwarfs.
^{12, 13, 14}
These bodies are too small to have become stars, and may have been splintered
off-shoots of stellar matter ejected from primordial star systems. They burn
brightly when young, and are termed ‘light-emitting planets’ in the early
stages of their lives.
¹⁵

Over
time they become dark planetary ‘embers’; warm bodies that emit little or no
light. The astronomers who have speculated about the existence of a small brown
dwarf circling the sun consider it to be similar to Jupiter, although several
times more massive. This is not the stuff of science fiction, but of very real
scientific speculation.

Little
is known about these bodies as so few have been directly detected elsewhere.
Their warmth and ability to emit light remains a controversial subject, but as
their mass becomes greater they become more star-like, and less planet-like. In
the midst of this murky area of knowledge lies what I have termed a ‘Dark
Star’, a hybrid planet/star whose warmth can incubate life whilst simultaneously
remaining difficult to detect.
¹⁶

Since
astronomers first started detecting and studying brown dwarfs directly, their
stellar properties have proved surprising given their relatively small size.
¹⁷
To give some indication of how our knowledge has progressed, it is
interesting to note that it was once thought that life could exist actually on
a brown dwarf.
¹⁸
This idea has been discredited, but it has been
acknowledged that life might be possible on a moon orbiting one.
¹⁹
The
brown dwarf’s moon would be warmed by gravitational tidal effects as well as
the warmth emitted directly by the failed star itself.

The implication of this is dramatic. If the ‘Perturber’ were to be
detected directly it could open a new chapter in the search for life in the
solar system. Even at the distances from the sun involved, a small brown dwarf
among the comets could provide a habitable environment on its own moons. This
is not dissimilar to the picture provided by the moon Europa orbiting Jupiter.
But a brown dwarf’s moon has the added advantage of basking in the ember-glow
of this failed star.

This is a crucial point to take on board. When we looked at the
case of Europa we considered how life might exist in a liquid ocean under its
surface. This ocean was warmed by Jupiter, and not just the sun. Yet, Jupiter
is just a regular planet.

Out in the comet clouds the sun’s warmth is practically
negligible. In order for life to exist on a moon orbiting a Dark Star, the
brown dwarf itself would not only have to be more massive than Jupiter, but it
would need to emit its own heat as well to warm its inner moons. Yet, it
couldn’t be too big or its electro-magnetic radiation would be readily
detectable from Earth.

It would have to be warm, but fairly dark. Yet, it may still glow
enough to light its own moons, rather like the glow of the embers of an old
fire can dimly light a room in winter. Because, as we know, luminosity drops
off with distance. Beyond its system of moons, the Dark Star would become all
but invisible in the night sky.

This concept is a central plank of my Dark Star Theory. It raises
the possibility of extending the habitable zone into the comet clouds, and adds
a sense of urgency to the otherwise rather academic pursuit of discovering
planets beyond Pluto. The hunt for Planet X becomes the hunt for life.

Although
such a planet has so far evaded direct detection in our solar system, similar
entities have been found orbiting neighboring stars. How can this be, given how
much further away those stars are? Surely, if we can find these bodies around
distant stars, we should be able to see one very clearly around the sun?
Strangely, perhaps, it is the other way around; the planets located around
other stars are easier to spot. This is because they are detected in a
different way.

The
means of detecting dark planetary bodies around other stars involve indirect
techniques. These include the measurement of the star’s ‘wobble’ in space, as
its position is influenced by the massive body interacting with it. This wobble
may be very slight, but it is enough for the modern astronomical techniques to
detect. Calculations based on these observations can then give information
about the size and orbit of the planetary body orbiting the star in question.
Sometimes the light of the star will be seen to dim slightly, and this is
attributed to the planet moving between the star and us, effectively blocking
out a minuscule amount of the star’s light.

These
can be conclusive observations, enabling astronomers to confidently claim the
existence of giant worlds around neighboring stars in the Milky Way. But the
same techniques cannot apply to our own sun. If the sun is wobbling in space
because of its companion, then the effect is negligible because of the Dark
Star’s immense distance from it.

This
contrasts with discoveries of extrasolar planets whose orbits are all similar
to the inner planets of our solar system. We know that the sun is moving in a
slightly odd direction compared with its neighbours. It is heading towards the
Solar Apex, near the star Vega in the sky, and this may turn out to be
coincident with the position of the Dark Star. But, this does not provide
evidence in itself for the existence of this possible ‘binary companion’. So,
to find such a body around our own sun we must rely upon different techniques,
even though it is much closer to us than the stars studied by planet-hunters.

Often, the orbits of the extrasolar planets, or ‘exoplanets’ are
eccentric. Yet, they can remain an intrinsic part of stable planetary systems.
²⁰
This was a surprising discovery, but is in keeping with long-standing
speculations about the nature of our own Planet X. These speculations stem from
some rather remarkable theories generated in the second half of the 20th
Century.

Certain researchers, including Immanuel Velikovsky and Zecharia
Sitchin, proposed that we could learn a lot about ancient astronomy from
ancient myth. Their theses worked on the principle that before writing was
developed, scientific knowledge was already being handed down from generation
to generation -- but that it took the form of myth. If one then worked
backwards from the myth, and understood the ‘gods’ to be equivalent to cosmic
bodies, like the sun, Moon and planets, then the myth would indicate ancient
models for creation of the solar system.

Careful scrutiny of certain ancient myths shows a fairly precise
understanding of the solar system among ancient peoples, possibly reflecting
advanced observations thousands of years ago. But the myths also contained
additional elements that did not equate with our current knowledge of the solar
system. An important planet was missing from the myth, one that stood as a
central pillar in the creation myths. I believe that this body is a Dark Star,
which means that the sun has a binary companion, albeit a rather diminutive
‘kid brother’.

The possibility that such a body has a highly eccentric orbit
would readily explain how it is currently very difficult to detect, yet has
been observed in the sky during history and prehistory, becoming an established
part of humanity’s mythological inheritance.

A planet the size of a small brown dwarf might approach the outer
planets, or move through the distant Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt, without causing
orbital mayhem. In times gone past, it may even have moved among the planets
nearer the sun, perhaps through the Asteroid Belt; a zone which may once have
been the home of another, long-destroyed world. This may seem incredible, but
it has been shown that a small brown dwarf could actually move directly through
the solar system without disrupting the other planets.

Computer simulations have shown that a planet as massive as 10
Jupiters would have no discernible effect upon the other planets if it moved
among them.
²¹
This surprises many who would naturally imagine that
the passage of a large planet through the solar system would have a
catastrophic effect on the other planets, including Earth. However, this is not
necessarily the case.

Even
though this is a possibility, I now doubt that the Dark Star moves through the
planetary solar system during our current era. Instead, it treads quietly
through the more distant Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt during the closest approach of
its orbit. It seems to be leaving the cosmic equivalent of dirty footprints in
the snow out there. It may bring with it other planets, though, that do move
closer to us and become observable. This is another theme we shall be exploring
in this book, one that will allow us to integrate science with myth in a rather
elegant way.

The
creation myths that we have spoken of here indicate that this Dark Star did
move among the planets in the distant past, and that the effect of its transit
among these familiar worlds was, in some cases, catastrophic. Again, there is
anomalous evidence in the solar system to support such a contentious argument.
It seems that its catastrophic incursion a billion or so years ago was confined
to that brief, but traumatic period, and that it has migrated out to more
tranquil waters since.

The
strong-headed god who stormed the solar system soon after its creation has
wizened up and now keeps its distance. Yet, the glory days of its youth are
evidenced every time we look at the Moon in the night sky. Armed to the teeth,
our fiery young god brought with it a devastating array of weaponry.

Let
us imagine for a moment that a brown dwarf moved through the solar system
billions of years ago. We can consider this seriously because of the evidence
in the solar system that multiple catastrophic events occurred about 3.9
billion years ago, about 500 million years after the birth of the solar system.
The Earth and Moon were literally pounded by massive bodies, whether asteroids
or comets.

The
Moon still shows the scars of this event long ago, which is known as the ‘late,
great bombardment’. This is because the surface of the Moon is extremely
ancient. Other similar bodies in the solar system also show this traumatic
pattern of cratering.

There
are many theories as to why there were so many impacts over such a short period
in the history of the solar system. No one knows for sure. But it is quite
legitimate to speculate that another cosmic body invaded the solar system at
that time, causing mayhem. And the bigger the body, the more likely it is that
we can explain the sheer magnitude of the calamity that befell the inner
planets around the sun.

If
we were to try and describe what happened at that time in non-scientific
terms, how would we go about doing so? What would this invading Dark Star with
its own system of planets have looked like as it crashed through our sun’s
territory?

Young
brown dwarfs shine with a red flame, despite their name. Theoretical observers
on Earth might see this red star’s corona or ‘halo’, which would be subject to
the driving force of the Solar Wind, and would thus be swept back from the sun.
Perhaps this would give the brown dwarf the appearance of a bright red fire-bird in the sky, its swept-back corona appearing as wings.

Like
the mythical Phoenix, the normally invisible brown dwarf binary would have been
re-born to enjoy a fleeting movement through the heavens, before returning to
the darkness of the comet cloud. Unless this planetary Phoenix approached too
close to one of the other planets, life would go on in the solar system as if nothing
had ever happened. If it did cause cosmic calamities, then anomalies would have
been created that remain, even today, mysteries. Like the fact that Uranus
spins on its side, or that Pluto’s orbit is eccentric, or even that the Earth
has water!

For
several years, I have undertaken studies to prove the existence of a ‘Dark
Star’ orbiting the sun from a dual perspective: mythological and scientific.
The two studies are deemed to be mutually exclusive by mainstream academics,
making my research unacceptable at their level, but I believe that there is
increasing overlap between the two disciplines for anyone who cares to look.
Certainly, the scientific evidence for a binary companion is becoming more
voluminous, and these startling new findings will form the basis for some of
this book.