SHAH ALAM: The report claiming that the earth will experience three days of darkness in December is a hoax, the National Space Agency (Angkasa) said in a statement yesterday.
The report, which was widely circulated in social media, quoted the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) president Charles Bolden as the source of information, but no such reports were posted in the agency’s website.
Angkasa also said that other sources quoted in the report could not be verified, thus proving that there was an element of cheating in the writing.
The report claimed that NASA had confirmed that three days of darkness would take place from Dec 21 to 23 due to a solar storm.
“A solar storm will not cause the earth to go dark because the earth is protected by a magnetic field (magnetosphere), which causes the effect of solar storm to be deflected and becomes weak before it reaches the earth.
“When the remainders of the storm reaches earth, it will be discharged as an aurora in the northern and southern hemispheres,” the statement said.
Angkasa also said that such a hoax had been circulated since 2012 with the rumour that the doomsday was to happen by end of that year. — Bernama