ZetaTalk dated April 2, 1997

Small object close in or large object far away, without further clues one cannot determine distance of an astronomical object.

• Clues as one object passing in front of another or the speed of travel across the skies that would preclude an object far away from making that trek are visual clues of distance. In the case of a comet within the Solar System, unless the comet is obliterated by another planet, no clue is given.

• Emissions and their intensity are a clue, but here the populace is at the mercy of a handful of major observatories and NASA and JPL, who have all along been instructed not to counter the story line on Hale-Bopp.

• The relative motion of objects in relationship to the motion of the Earth is a clue, but unlike the outer planets in your Solar System, where the Earth's revolutions around the Sun put it at a triangulation posture so that distance determinations can be made. But in the case of a comet passing in a matter of months, such triangulation is debatable.

• The single clue available to the populace is the angle of the tail which points directly away from the Sun. As we have explained, drawing a simple diagram as viewed from well above the Solar System and placing a comet in this or that position relative to the Earth and Sun will quickly show that the comet cannot be at the distance claimed!

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