Photon Belt

Photon Belt

snorks 08 Nov 2010 16:32

In researching New Age ideas about 2012 and the Ascension, I keep bumping up against "the Photon Belt" which gets explained in various vague ways. Jenkins in his book says that it was started in the 1990s by a Pleiadian chaneller, and took off from there. I have encountered it in non-2012 books discussing the coming New Age. The earth and the Photon Belt have a date with destiny in 2012, except no one can agree on what that destiny is. I am guessing that there is no photon belt.

My question is: is this thing made up, is there something of this sort, or is it something else that New Age folks mistook and called a 'photon belt'.

Re: Photon Belt

3WMElliott 08 Nov 2010 16:51

I've never heard of a photon belt, and photons themselves travel in straight lines, rather than hang around and chill out in belts.

It does sound exactly like a pseudoscience phrase though - "What exists in space?" "Uhm, belts?" "Belts, cool, belts of what?" "Phhhh…otons?" "Awesome, photon belts it is then."

Last edited on 08 Nov 2010 16:52 by 3WMElliott Show more

Re: Photon Belt

TheGreatJuju 08 Nov 2010 17:22

Snorks, there's no such thing. Photons move in straight lines unless under the influence of immense gravity. Our own Sun emits billions upon billions upon billion of photons each second. It's unclear what these people think a "photon belt" hovering in space, apparently with such low density as to be invisible, could possibly do to our planet or Solar System.

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Last edited on 08 Nov 2010 17:23 by TheGreatJuju Show more

Re: Photon Belt

Astrogeek 08 Nov 2010 18:20

It's a new agey idea, which started back in the mid 20th century, and taking off of an even older (late 18th century) speculation that our solar system might be in orbit around the Pleiades. I believe that the idea is that there is an "intense band of photons" orbiting the Pleiades, and that the solar system will move through this structure. Now, of course, it is being tied in with 2012.

There is no structure such as the "photon belt".

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"Do you ever think about things you do think about?" - Henry Drummond to Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind

Re: Photon Belt

snorks 09 Nov 2010 18:51

Thanks, I figured as much, but just wanted to be sure.

Re: Photon Belt

Keith the Gamer Geek 12 Nov 2010 01:25

I'd believe in the existence of photon torpedoes before I'd believe there's such a thing as the Photon Belt.

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"The Universe is cool enough without making up crap about it". —Dr. Phil Plait

"If psychics are capable of seeing into the future—why the f**k can't they give us the score to next year's Super Bowl" —Denis Leary

Re: Photon Belt

Alene Y 12 Nov 2010 21:59

I have always had to laugh at the photon torpedoes. You'd think they could at least have used something like proton topedo to make it sound even a little like a weapon.

Re: Photon Belt

Keith the Gamer Geek 13 Nov 2010 04:09

And you know what the explosive payload in a photon torpedo was? Antimatter! How they got "photon" out of something like that is still a head-scratcher for me, lol.

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"The Universe is cool enough without making up crap about it". —Dr. Phil Plait

"If psychics are capable of seeing into the future—why the f**k can't they give us the score to next year's Super Bowl" —Denis Leary

Re: Photon Belt

Alene Y 13 Nov 2010 17:06

Antimatter from units of light, sounds like a pretty good trick to me. I am a Trekkie, but they did a bit of a disservice to the scientifically challenged with that one. They got them thinking that photons are something to fear.

Re: Photon Belt

snorks 13 Nov 2010 17:15

Actually I was one of those actually thought that. Thanks for clarifying fact from fiction.

Re: Photon Belt

Alene Y 13 Nov 2010 18:03

Sorry snorks,
I didn't mean to insult you. But photons are certainly nothing to fear. It was just science fiction and they evidently don't have a science advisor to tell them that the idea of photon torpedoes is complete nonsense. The same goes for their newest nonsense, "red matter", that caused planets to collapse and become black holes. It is a fun movie, but completely absurd when one considers scientific reality.

Re: Photon Belt

obaeyens 13 Nov 2010 18:44

I am not fond of a SF movie to be too realistic based in science.
Real science accurate movies tend to be pretty boring.
A moon trip would take 3 days for example.

Re: Photon Belt

Alene Y 14 Nov 2010 02:25

True. I watch and read Sci Fi and fantasy for escapism, not for the science (which is totally lacking). Since seeing the new Star Trek movie, though, I've been expecting kids to start asking if "red matter" is going to make the Earth become a black hole in 2012. They've asked that about nearly every inane unscientific idea that has come up, and about every natural occurrence in the last two years.

Re: Photon Belt

Keith the Gamer Geek 11 Dec 2010 04:42

Yeah. To quote Adam Savage from MythBusters, "realilty makes a crappy special effects crew."

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"The Universe is cool enough without making up crap about it". —Dr. Phil Plait

"If psychics are capable of seeing into the future—why the f**k can't they give us the score to next year's Super Bowl" —Denis Leary

Re: Photon Belt

snorks 13 Nov 2010 20:39

No problem. I don't have a deep a background in science as I probably should.

Re: Photon Belt

obaeyens 13 Nov 2010 18:41

It could be photon trigged.
A bit like a light detector blowing up a bomb because it detects incoming photo's.