The world will NOT end next month: Nasa denies rumours of a massive asteroid impact bringing worldwide destruction

• Nasa issues exasperated statement in response to viral internet rumours
• It says claims an asteroid will hit Earth next month have no scientific basis
• Nasa said there are no asteroids that could collide for the next 100 years
• The nearest asteroid to pass in September will be two million miles away 

Internet rumours based on a 2010 prophecy by a self-proclaimed prophet have predicated an asteroid will hit the ocean near Puerto Rico in September. Nasa has now taken the unusual step of releasing an extensive rebuttal to the claims. An artists impression of an impending asteroid impact is shown above.


They warned the impact, which was said will occur near Puerto Rico, would cause widespread destruction along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the US, Mexico, and much of Central and South America.
 But, in what will be a relief to all wondering why a Bruce Willis and a team of asteroid smashing roughnecks have not been dispatched to save the planet, Nasa has dismissed the claims.

According to its Near-Earth Object Observations Program, which scans the skies for potential threats, there are no asteroids or comets that could impact the Earth anytime in the 'foreseeable future.

In fact, of all known potentially hazardous asteroids, there is a 0.01 per cent chance one of them will impact Earth in the next 100 years.

Of course, this does not mean there is not an unseen asteroid or comet hurtling towards Earth, but officials say anything big enough to cause the damage being predicted for September would have been seen by now.

In the film Armageddon, an asteroid is spotted by astronomers on a collission course with the Earth and a group of roughnecks, led by Bruce Willis (pictured above) are dispatched into space to save the world

Paul Chodas, manager of Nasa's Near-Earth Object office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said: 'There is no existing evidence that an asteroid or any other celestial object is on a trajectory that will impact Earth.

'In fact, not a single one of the known objects has any credible chance of hitting our planet over the next century.'

Nasa has now published a lengthy statement on its website refuting the rumours as untrue.

It is thought the doomsday prophecy was first made by self-proclaimed prophet Rev Efraid Rodriguez, who says he learned of the disaster in a message from God.

He said the asteroid would hit the ocean and cause a devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Nasa says rumours of asteroids (illustated) bringing destruction to the world are a recurring feature online. However, in the past asteroids and meteorites have been known to collide with Earth bringing widespread destruction and extinctions, such as the demise of the dinosaurs and towards the end of the last ice age

Although Rev Rodriguez claims he wrote to Nasa in 2010 warning of the asteroid, this claims of impending doom in September this year have spread on the internet.

But in a rather exasperated statement, Nasa said this was not the first time a 'wild and unsubstantiated claim of a celestial object about to impact the Earth has been made'.

It added: 'Unfortunately it probably won't be the last. It seems to be a perennial favourite of the World Wide Web.'

Indeed, in 2011 there were rumours the comet Elenin would bring devastation to the planet, despite never pasing any danger to the Earth.

There were also rumours that the end of the Mayan calendar on 21 December 21 would bring a large asteroid impact.