Asteroid to skim past Earth

AN ASTEROID the size of a blue whale is shooting past Earth later today and conspiracy theorists believe “it could be the last hour”.

The Sun reports that there are allegedly two other signs that the end is nigh, including a super moon that will appear to grow in size as it reaches the closest point to the planet.

Earth is also expected to enter darkness as the moon passes in front of the sun, blocking its light and creating a solar eclipse.

Some believe these are biblical omens that could suggest doom and gloom for the future of humanity.

Anita Fuentes, an internet pastor, and her husband Ignacio, spoke on a YouTube video about ‘the end’.

In the strangely cheery video, Ms Fuentes revealed the day coincided with her birthday.

Pastors predict end of the world

She said: “We could be in the middle of singing happy birthday and see some extraordinary things happening in the sun, moon and stars.

“(The asteroid) could whiz by and blow out my candles for me.”

Their video also features an image of a red moon with the caption “We are living in the final seconds” along with a link to a website called “Open your eyes people”.

Mr Fuentes said: “The end times are here.

“It could be the last hour, the last second.

“We have to pay attention to all this that we’re seeing.”

Meanwhile, NASA reviewed its calculations and discovered it had previously estimated the wrong date that the asteroid would fly past Earth.

Initially the space station claimed the asteroid would hurtle past on March 5 but that was changed to March 8.

Paul Chodas, manager of NASA’s Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies, said: “We already knew this asteroid, 2013 TX68, would safely fly past Earth in early March, but this additional data allow us to get a better handle on its orbital path.

“The data indicates that this small asteroid will probably pass much farther away from Earth than previously thought.”

“There is no concern whatsoever regarding this asteroid — unless you were interested in seeing it with a telescope,” said Mr Chodas. “Prospects for observing this asteroid, which were not very good to begin with, are now even worse because the asteroid is likely to be farther away, and therefore dimmer than previously believed.”

This article originally appeared in The Sun