Comet Panic
Time to freak out.
Check out the skies October 21, 2025, ‘cause here comes a comet! C/2025 A6 will be visible to the naked eye around that time, possibly. You may want to use binoculars or a telescope if you have them.
I’ve been doing some comet research lately for my newest sci-fi book that I can’t talk about. I’ve seen a couple comets in my life: Hale-Bopp in 1997, and Neowise in 2020. Both have long orbital periods: you can see Hale-Bopp again in 4385, and Neowise in 8,820ish. During my research, I stumbled across two interesting ones in 1910.
1910 was a big year for comets; people anxiously awaited the return of Halley’s comet that year. People started reporting seeing it in January, which confused astronomers since it wasn’t due until April. This was a different comet; bigger and brighter than Halley’s. The Great January Comet of 1910, also called the Daylight Comet, lit up the skies around the world. How cool is that?
Not cool, if you’re afraid of comets. The New York Herald interviewed famed astronomer Camille Flammarion about the upcoming Halley’s comet. He called it harmless, then speculated wildly about what it would be like if it wasn’t harmless. Earth was going to pass through the comet’s tail, and Flammarion suggested the hydrogen in the tail might combine with the oxygen in our atmosphere and suffocate all of us. Another French astronomer, with no evidence, suggested the comet’s tail was full of x-rays, and the resulting bombardment would condense all the water vapor on Earth, triggering massive floods. Both of those claims were completely false. The newspapers printed it.
People freaked out.
The hysteria increased to new heights after a spectrograph analysis (a new technology at the time), observed cyanogen gas exuding from the comet’s tail. Like it’s infamous relative, cyanide, cyanogen is deadly. The New York Times called Flammarion for his take. He said it was possible Halley’s tail could extinguish all life on Earth. Despite a multitude of other scientists saying it was impossible, the Times ran a story titled, “Comet’s Tail Poisonous.”
People freaked the fuck out.
Some farmers didn’t plant crops in the spring, seeing how it was pointless since the world was going to end. Con men sold “Comet Pills,” which would protect you from the deadly comet vapors. Insurance brokers sold “Comet Insurance,” offering $500 to people killed by Halley’s transit (how you would collect on the money and what value it would have if society was exterminated is unknown). Some sealed themselves in their homes, or deep in wells, and some took their own lives rather than be poisoned by the celestial menace.
Of course, nobody died from the comet, and not everyone lost their minds. Some citizens held “Comet Parties,” throwing a blowout to celebrate “The End of the World.” But many preferred, instead of listening to the many scientists who said nothing would happen, believing a couple of fear-mongering out-liars. Fortunately, we’re much smarter now and would never fall for unscientific fear mongering. Right?
Keep your eyes out for C/2025 A6 on October 21. You can send me $50 for comet insurance, and I promise a $5 million payout if everyone dies. But it has to be everyone.
*This image was doctored at the time to make the comet more spectacular.