# Bad Astronomer vs. Nancy & the Zetans **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053 "2003-05-13T21:00:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/21 "2003-05-16T05:49:15Z")
I’m enjoying the mp3 file too. I’m surprised you (Phil) didn’t debunk the part about planet X stopping the earth’s rotation. I think it’d be easy to explain why a gravitational field can’t stop the rotation. As an aside, I loved your story about the supernova in M51. That was the first one saw too, through our university’s 10-inch refractor. Didn’t see the spiral arms, unfortunately. (The telescope was in the middle of Boston). ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/22 "2003-05-16T15:26:25Z")
I’m enjoying this. Phil I feel bad for you in that you have to go up against these types who don’t require facts or realistic explainations to spin their tales. While you have the facts to back you up it must get tired with these sudden wild stories and utter bullshit from no where. The public seems to like small digestable bits and generalizations on things and when an expert comes on with a wealth of knowledge sometimes people just get lost. She used unfair tactics bringing up the Mammoth myth and other nonsense that has nothing to do with your field and of course when you answer that you don’t know these things and they are not in your field the yahoos think you are being evasive or you aren’t as knowledgeable as this scattergun diatribes spouting fruitcake Nancy. Personally If I were you I’d have used that moment to question her ability to be an expert on every field. Also I commend you on not talking to the Zentars or whoever she says talks to her. Without coming out to say it you made the message clear that this is utter nonsense without being a jerk. Kudos! Lastly I think it is very telling that she thinks of herself as Joan of Arc and Mother Theresa. Heck on bad days I think I am Napoleon only I know I’m nuts. Keep up the good work Bad Astronomer! ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/23 "2003-05-16T20:21:51Z")
Holy cow! That chick is a complete LOON! Thank God for legitimate scientists like **The Bad Astronomer** who take their personal time to de-bunk this kind of nonsense. BTW - she had a really nice tie in to a supposed \* GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY!\* don’t you think!? Keep up the good work TBA, a great many of us appreciate your efforts. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/24 "2003-05-16T20:33:11Z")
Waitaminute . . . Catherine Zeta Jones is taking over the earth? How did I miss _this?_ ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/25 "2003-05-16T22:53:30Z")
Well done, Phil! “Nancy & the Zetans” - band name! ---
**Author:** ![quasar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@quasar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quasar)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/26 "2003-05-17T02:58:33Z")
Didn´t the Raelians clone Planet X? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/27 "2003-05-17T03:02:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*Waitaminute . . . Catherine Zeta Jones is taking over the earth? How did I miss _this?_ \*\* Stage 1: Best Supporting Actress oscar. Stage 2: ??? Stage 3: Profit! ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/28 "2003-05-17T03:08:29Z")
A long time ago, when Nancy Leider was just a nuisance posting her “ZetaTalk” on the sci.astro newsgroup, I asked her the following question: “You claim the aliens come from Zeta Reticuli. But Zeta Reticuli is two stars, Zeta(1) Reticuli and Zeta(2) Reticuli, separated by over a tenth of a light-year in space. **Which** of these two Zeta Reticuli stars do the aliens come from?” Her response? Zeta Reticuli was actually **six** stars, but they’re lined up one-behind-the-other so that you can only see two of them from the Earth. Of course, since Zeta(1) Reticuli and Zeta(2) Reticuli have been observed to **move** slightly over the last century or so, as most stars are wont to do, that means that the other 4 stars behind them must have been moving along with them at **just** the correct angle to say hidden. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Stephi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stephi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephi)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/29 "2003-05-17T04:57:01Z")
Oh my God, Phil Plait is my new hero! That is so cool. And, slight hijack: I hope you don’t this is too stalkerish, but, boy he has a sexy voice! Am I the only one who thinks so? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/30 "2003-05-17T05:51:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Snooooopy \* > \*\*I think the most powerful evidence that Planet X exists is that one episode of “Doctor Who,” where the Cybermen try to destroy the Earth to recharge their home planet of Mondas. \*\* Even more convincing is that the final 25 minutes is missing. ---
**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/31 "2003-05-17T16:25:26Z")
I think Phil only made two slips: 1. I’m not even a bad astronomer, but she claims that the planet is always to the left of the sun. It doesn’t jump around, as Phil asserts it does in her evidence; it’s to the left at sunrise and to the left of sunset. Now, since we change from east to west between sunrise and sunset, shouldn’t the thing appear to move in order to actually be consistant? I thought it was a shame he let this slip by. 1. When he had the opportunity to talk to an alien, I thought he should’ve said, “If a train leaves Baltimore heading south at 100mph and a train leaves the Alamo heading north at 23mph…” ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/32 "2003-05-17T19:38:04Z")
I too applaud Phil for “fighting ignorance” in such a big way. It must be difficult to debate an opponent who is not bound by “inconvenient” facts or even by the rules of logic. OTOH - Phil - what **are** you thinking? You don’t have to do anything. This is one piece of nonsense that will debunk itself, in less than a month (assuming she doesn’t keep pushing the date back, but I would hope then that even the most ardent follower of the Zetans would realize it’s bunk). ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/33 "2003-05-17T23:04:11Z")
Zeta 2 Reticuli is near where the Nostromo was diverted to the “aliens” planet, maybe that explains it, Nancy was contaminated. ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/34 "2003-05-17T23:19:51Z")
You know, it occurs to me that perhaps what we _thought_ was an eclipse of the moon _was_ in fact Planet X. Yes, I heard the part of the mp3 where Phil said he’s afraid the ignorant might see the orangey-reddish moon and fear it’s Planet X. I think it _was_ Planet X and this is yet another _COVER-UP_!! It just turns out the disasterous effects of the Planet passing so close to Earth were somewhat exaggerated. Oh not 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/35 "2003-05-18T05:52:59Z")
No no, I’m pretty sure that neither the moon nor anything out there is _Planet X_. I’d be on the look-out for the underrated but just as dangerous _Planet W_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/36 "2003-05-19T01:14:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stephi \* > \*\*Oh my God, Phil Plait is my new hero! That is so cool. > > And, slight hijack: > > I hope you don’t this is too stalkerish, but, boy he has a sexy voice! Am I the only one who thinks so? \*\* Stalkerish? That depends; send me a photo and I’ll make up my mind. 🙂 Anyway, thanks for all the help. I actually made a few errors during the “debate”, but most were minor (like, the Vatican observatory is on Mt. Graham, and I said Kitt Peak, stuff like that). There were about a hundred things she said that I could spend time on, but it was hard to decide which ones. I haven’t heard two things in a row from her that were correct! I am still trying to fight this, in IRC and the website. Hopefully, she’ll go away soon, and her followers will all get the chance to shake their heads ruefully. ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/37 "2003-05-19T01:26:08Z")
I.ve been wondering how the evil us goverment is able to keep others from blabbing, Somehow cutting off fiscal year 2004 funding does not seem much of a threat, if there is no 2004. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/38 "2003-05-19T04:05:41Z")
> [@](#): > > I.ve been wondering how the evil us goverment is able to keep others from blabbing, Somehow cutting off fiscal year 2004 funding does not seem much of a threat, if there is no 2004. Ha! Maybe you’ll understand that once you understand why we had to fake the Moon landings in spite of the UFO technology we got from Roswell… ---
**Author:** ![Stephi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stephi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephi)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/39 "2003-05-22T16:54:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Bad Astronomer \* > \*\*Stalkerish? That depends; send me a photo and I’ll make up my mind. 🙂 > > Anyway, thanks for all the help. I actually made a few errors during the “debate”, but most were minor (like, the Vatican observatory is on Mt. Graham, and I said Kitt Peak, stuff like that). > > There were about a hundred things she said that I could spend time on, but it was hard to decide which ones. I haven’t heard two things in a row from her that were correct! > > I am still trying to fight this, in IRC and the website. Hopefully, she’ll go away soon, and her followers will all get the chance to shake their heads ruefully. \*\* Um…ok… [here it is](http://www.teemings.com/contributors/stephi.html) I think there will always be someone who preys upon people’s ignorance. When Nancy finally gets chucked into the looney bin, someone else will pop up to take her place. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053/40 "2003-05-22T17:52:58Z")
You know it really doesn’t seem to find followers for a home grown cult. People seem to be able to follow anything no matter how implausible. There has to be quite the wad of cash to get for this… Hmmmm. Planet W eh? How about mysterious transmisions from The Crab nebula warning of the return of Gult the Inconinent and his Imperions from Planet W. It seems that Alpha Proxima has been mistakenly identified by a star but is in actuality the Mysterious Planet W. Although Astronomers like the governement robot BadAstronomer deny this, it seems the Radiation eminating from the planet is actually the super advanced shielding generated to protect the Imperions. The Imperions are a race of hyper intellegent bread mold which coats and runs the planet. They are the precursors to life on this planet who were driven off the Earth by early hominids during the great Jacktonian Uprising lost to history and covered up by Governement Robot archeologists. They plan to one day return and retake the planet any day now! To Learn more on their plans fo this planet and our future survival send $20 doallars… Say this is easy!!! Look out world hee comes a new religion! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-astronomer-vs-nancy-the-zetans/175053.md?page=3)