List of Topics Characterized As Pseudoscience - Astronomy and Space Sciences

Astronomy and Space Sciences

• 2012 millenarianism – a present-day belief proposing that cataclysmic and apocalyptic events will occur in the year 2012. The proposal is derived from the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar which by most proposed alignments with the Gregorian calendar reaches a calendar rollover that year. Doomsday mechanisms are predicted to occur by means of a "galactic alignment", "solar storm", "pole shift", or catastrophic collision with an asteroid, comet, or planet (e.g. Nibiru). There is no scientific evidence that these events will occur.
• Nibiru cataclysm – a prediction first made by contactee Nancy Lieder that a mythological planet Nibiru would collide with Earth. After adjusting her prediction many times, she now claims the year of the occurrence to be 2012.
• Moon landing conspiracy theories – claims that parts of the Apollo program were hoaxed and subsequently covered up. While many of the accusations are best categorized under conspiracy theories, some do attempt to use faulty science to prove that the Moon landing could not have happened, thus qualifying them as pseudoscientific claims.
• Astrology – refers to any of several systems of understanding, interpreting and organizing knowledge about reality and human existence, based on the relative positions and movement of various real and construed celestial bodies.
• Dogon people and Sirius B — a series of claims that the Dogon tribe knew about the white dwarf companion of Sirius despite it being invisible to the naked eye.
• Erich von Däniken – proposed that Earth was visited by ancient astronauts. Such beings have been claimed to have initiated the rise of human civilization or provided significant technological assistance to various ancient cultures.
• The Face on Mars – (in Cydonia Mensae) is a rock formation on Mars asserted to be evidence of intelligent, native life on the planet. High-resolution images taken recently show it to appear less face-like. It features prominently in the work of Richard C. Hoagland.
• Flat Earth Society – proposes that the earth is a flat, disc-shaped planet that accelerates upward, producing the illusion of gravity. Proposers of the Flat Earth theory do not accept compelling evidence, like photos of planet Earth from Space.
• Immanuel Velikovsky – proposed that ancient texts refer to the collision of astronomical bodies as in Worlds in Collision.
• Lunar effect – the belief that the full Moon influences human behavior.
• Zecharia Sitchin – proposed that ancient Sumerian cuneiform suggests that ancient astronauts visited Earth and created human beings through biogenetics. Sitchin claims that these writings tell of a Planet X beyond the dwarf planet Pluto. Scholars have criticized his interpretations and qualifications (noting that he has no degree in Semitic Languages). Michael Heiser, who has a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Semitic Languages has challenged Sitchin to present one text that confirms his claims.