Imagine yourself taking a journey back in time, if it were possible,
to a day perhaps 5,000 years ago. When we arrive at that early epoch we
find a vastly different Earth. The geography and climate is noticeably different.
Numerous exotic plant and animal species are present. There are dinosaurs
roaming about. People live in scantily insulated yet well built dwelling
structures which provide safety and refuge from the traffic lanes of extraordinarily
large wild beasts. At nightfall, when the stars appear, there are several
noticeably bright stars which continually change their positions from night
to night, the planets. Everything in the solar system seems to appear as
we know it in the twentieth century, with one major exception. There is
an additional planet in the sky, with a brightness comparable to that of
Mars and Jupiter. Then one night it suddenly and unexpectedly explodes,
like a nova in our solar system. It expands and brightens to a daylight
brightness and then fades. In a few months, the leading edge of the blast
reaches Earth. The day and night sky is set ablaze with great showers of
brilliant meteors. Such a spectacle would undoubtedly leave a most ominous
and profound impression on the inhabitants of the time.
As we return to our present century we realize that the mystery and demise
of the lost planet was all but forgotten in the annuals of history, until
our story continues in the year 1772 when man begins to rediscover the evidence
of the bygone event. At that time the astronomer Johann Titius recognized
a curious fact about the spacing of the planets in the solar system: each
of the, then six known, planets is roughly twice the distance of the previous
one from the Sun, with one conspicuous exception, the gap between Mars and
Jupiter. The big question of the day raised by Titius was: "Are we
to assume that the Divine Creator has left this reservation empty?"
It was obvious that something was "not quite right." Not long
after, astronomer Johann Bode published this curious fact about the spacing
of the planets in 1778 as a "law," now known as Bode's law. When
planet Uranus was discovered by William Herschel it was found to be in excellent
agreement with Bode's law. This circumstance brought great attention to
the predicted missing intraMartial-Jovian planet. Astronomical "search
parties" were organized to find the missing planet, but to no avail.
Then on the very first day of the next century Giuseppe Piazzi, the director
of an observatory on the island of Sicily, happened upon an unidentified
star while making routine telescopic "patrols" of the sky. After
watching the new star change position over a period of several evenings
he reported it to other astronomers, including Bode. Interesting enough,
Piazzi was not among the organized team of stellar "police" actually
searching for the missing planet.
At first the object was thought to be a comet but soon its true identity
as a planet was recognized. It was given the name Ceres, after the Roman
goddess of agriculture. The new planet, just like Uranus, was found to be
exactly where it should be in its distance form the Sun. This planet, although,
was so incredibly tiny compared to the other planets that it was not even
large enough to constitute a modest sized moon. Shortly after, another tiny
planet was discovered by Wilhelm Olbers. Then even more of these Lillyputian
wonders were found. On account of these discoveries Olbers conjectured that
these new little "worlds" were mere fragments of a single large
planet which had been burst asunder by some great convulsion, thereby producing
the remnants that were now being discovered telescopically. By his most
profound theory Olbers correctly predicted that many more of these pieces
would be found.
Olbers' planetary disruption theory was the first and most viable hypothesis
of what happened, but the better known and more prestigious astronomer,
Marquis de Laplace whose nebular theory of the origin of the solar system
was in vogue at the time, attacked the ideas of Olbers. Thus the planetary
disruption theory has since been cast into disfavor by most scientists ever
since. Hence it is now held that the more than 6,000 pieces of debris logged
so far, and now called asteroids, are the residue that never quite formed
into a planet between Mars and Jupiter, due to the gravitational influence
of "nearby" Jupiter. In spite of its rejection by the majority
of scientists, the disruption theory remains the most workable hypothesis,
a hypothesis supported by evidence more startling than ever, especially
since the advent of the space age. Not only are the asteroids irregular
shaped fragmental bodies, most of them occur in a stream just where a planet
should be. Their material constitution is indicative of having been integrally
formed within the original mass of a planet sized body. As well, the pieces
exhibit "explosion signatures" in their distribution and orbital
interrelationships. Furthermore, the presence of comets, meteorites, and
zodiacal dust is indicative of an origin in a catastrophe of planetary proportions.
In a nebular context involving great ages none of these should still be
present, as they would have already been gravitationally "cleaned up"
long ago by the other major solar system members. Many more evidences for
a previously existant planet have been identified and described.
Unlike their American counterparts, Russian scientists on the whole are
much more inclined toward the disruption theory as the cause of the asteroids,
comets, and meteoroids. One Russian astrophysicist has even constructed
a model of the original planet and given it the name Phaeton, after the
mythological Phaethon who tried to drive his father's chariot across the
heavens, but being unable to control his fiery steeds, he perished.
Just how the planet itself was demolished remains a mystery although it
seems probable that some kind of internal instability was responsible; or
perhaps it was destroyed by outside forces, or even from the intervention
of intelligent beings. The latter would make sense as a consequence of a
"war in heaven" (Ezekiel 28; Isaiah 14; Revelation 12) amongst
the ranks of the angelic hosts. War is essentially the result of a spiritual
problem, and spiritual problems usually have physical consequences. We know
this all to well in this "present evil world." In consideration
of the fact that our efficacious God, in the beginning, created everything
whole, complete and perfect, the nebular theory could not be held up as
a viable hypothesis. The disruption theory, although, is much more in keeping
with the Biblical idea that the entrance of iniquity into God's once perfect
creation has tainted the physical universe with its destructive manifestations
- exploded stars and broken planets. God's original perfect creation certainly
would not include the byproducts of discord at the outset, such as the fragmentary
bodies of the asteroids. The surmise and demise of Phaeton is indeed an
extraordinary account which provides a fascinating chapter in the mysteries
of astronomy.
Note: This article is an excerpt from the author's book Phaeton the Lost
Planet, 1995, revised 1996.
Email the author: jackunruh@sbcglobal.net
Please send me __________ copies of the 8.5" x 11," 125 page
spiral bound book, "PHAETON THE LOST PLANET" at $29.95 each. Foreign
add 25% (U.S. Funds). California residents add 7.25% sales tax. For shipping
add $2.55 for one (1) book, add $1.25 for each additional book. Make check
or money order payable to J. Timothy Unruh: Back Yard Astronomers,
P. O. Box 1034, Rocklin, CA 95677-1034.
Amount enclosed $__________________ (check or money order only)
Name_______________________________________________________________________
Address_____________________________________________________________________
City_________________________________State_______________Zip Code_____________