[redwitch]

Ronda, the nice (?) thing is there are always signs leading to the end of the world. Remmber the Nostradamus scare of a few years ago? WWII was that to be a cataclysmic event. The Cold War was used to prove a few psychic predictions (including Nostradamus). The ending of the Cold War a few others.

Yes, it is true that are some huge bunkers in DC and other places for those considered crucial to the survival of America. There were built in the 50s. Whether they are still maintained is another question. Knowing this government (not this administration but the government as a whole), I am sure they are being well taken care of. Who knows when someone might bring a nuclear weapon into this country.

If a planet hits us, hiding in a bunker won't help much. I believe the largest meteorite to hit earth was thought to be the size of a small mountain -- it caused a very large crater in South Africa. One that can actually be seen from space. If a planet collided with earth, it would more than like destroy both planets. So, hiding in a bunker would be useless.

While the government would probably be willing to keep things like impending doom by collision a secret, there are enough amateur astronomers to make it impossible. Someone would have posted something on the web by now. The news media would have happily done their best to scare everyone for the sake of ratings. Ditto the ending by Mayan calendar.

So, I'd chalk these things up to another way for a few to try to scare the many.