On August 27th, 2003, Mars passed by the Earth at only 34.6 million miles away. This was the closest pass by in over 60,000 years. However, on that day, there began an annual hoax that tries to fool unknowing people every year. Annually since the 2003 event, emails and rumors have spread that on August 27th, if you look up at the sky, you will be able to see two moons. One moon of course being our regular moon, and the other being an extremely close planet Mars.

2010 has not been any different. Emails have been received by thousands of people, who continue to pass them on to their friends and family. It’s nothing more than an extremely eye-catching chain letter.

According to NASA, it is impossible for Mars to pass so close to the earth that it looks to be the size of our moon. It’s just not something that could occur unless the orbit of the whole galaxy were to go awry. If that were the case, we wouldn’t be here to see it. Even on that night when Mars was the closest it had been in over 60,000 years, it only looked like a bright star to the naked eye.

So, don’t get your hopes up of seeing 2 moons on Friday night. You will see nothing but a bunch of stars and one single bright moon.