FALSE.Rumours are spreading that NASA have confirmed that Earth will undergo 15 days of total darkness because of an “astronomical event” between Jupiter and Venus, which – according to reports – has not occurred in over 1 million years. The rumours trace back to an article on website NewsWatch33.com that reads in part –
NASA has confirmed that the Earth will experience 15 days of total darkness between November 15 and November 29, 2015. The event, according to NASA, hasn’t occurred in over 1 Million years.
The rumours are false, and just a regurgitation of a very similar hoax that circulated back in October 2014 claiming the supposed date of darkness (this time only for 6 days) was back in December 2014. A later updated version claimed the darkness would occur in June 2015.ThatsNonsense.com reported on it back in October 2014.
And now this latest variant extends the length of time to 15 days and postpones the date again to November 2015. But it is no truer now than it was back then. NASA have made no such announcement and the “science” discussed in the NewsWatch33.com article is just pseudo-jargon that makes no sense whatsoever.
NewsWatch33.com is a fake news website that constantly publishes a string of nonsense articles, which are often mistaken for genuine news. It has a hefty disclaimer on a difficult-to-locate page that says in part
…we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
Whilst many fake news websites claim in disclaimers that they print satirical news, NewsWatch33.com does not, instead claiming that they cannot be held accountable for any inaccurate information they publish. Other similar fake news websites exist, possibly run by the same person(s) including NewsWatch28.com which has also been responsible for starting many viral rumours in the past.
