Conspiracy theorists believe the mysterious planet Nibiru will destroy Earth in a fiery collision on Saturday, September 23, but a UFO expert has dismissed the claim and said conspiracy theorists "lack critical thinking."

Also Read: What if a huge asteroid is about to hit Earth? How to avoid natural catastrophe?

Nick Pope, a former Ministry of Defence UFO expert, said the world will not be destroyed on September 23.

"We'll get through 23 September, just as we got through every other end of the world prediction that's been made," he told MailOnline.

Doomsday
Representational Image.Creative Commons/Misha

The Nibiru planet, also called as Planet X, is a hypothetical planet in Sumerian astrology. It is said that every 3,600 years the mysterious planet comes into close proximity with Earth and smashes into Earth. And conspiracy theorists believe the collision will happen on Saturday.

However, Pope has debunked this theory and said that if the planet is actually destroying Earth then it would be visible by now.

"The bottom line is that if a mysterious 12th planet was really going to hit the Earth on Saturday, we'd all be able to see it right now. If it were this close to Earth, you wouldn't even need a telescope - it would be visible to the naked eye," he said.

"If any of this was real, every astronomer in the world - not just Nasa, but the amateur enthusiast with a small telescope - would have known about this for months, if not years. So unless people are going to argue that every amateur astronomer in the world is somehow in on the conspiracy too, the whole theory falls down."

Total Solar Eclipse, Niribu, apocalypse, doomsday,
NASA/ Lynette Cook

The doomsday theories have been doing the rounds for years now, but it picked up pace recently when David Meade, an author of Planet X: the 2017 Arrival, claimed Earth will be destroyed this weekend.

Initially, he used the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Great Sign of Revelation 12 as the frame of reference to come to the conclusion. Recently, he said this Saturday will mark the beginning of the Rapture and the second coming of Christ. [Read More about the Biblical prophecy