This urban legend refers to a computer program at NASA which experienced an apparent bug. In some versions of the legend, Mr. Harold Hill, president of the Curtis Engine Company in Baltimore Maryland publicized the event.
The NASA computers were running a program that computed the locations of the sun, moon, and planets at any time in the future or past. The purpose of the program was to prevent artificial satellites from colliding with these objects. This allegation is a good indication that the story is an urban legend.
Even satellites which are in geosynchronous orbit are only 22,241 miles (35,786 kilometers) above the surface of the earth, whereas the moon is more than ten times further away, and the sun and planets are tens of millions of miles from earth. So there is no possibility of a collision, and thus no need for such a program.
The legend maintains that the program allegedly failed consistently at a specific date in the past. Exactly 23 hours and 20 minutes was missing back in the time of Joshua. Someone at NASA allegedly went back to his/her office, read Joshua 10:12-13, (which talks about an interval of missing time approximately one day in duration) and the account of Isaiah's visit to Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:8-11 when God was said to have caused the sun to go backwards by 10 degrees and produce an additional 40 minutes lost time. This information accounted precisely for the entire loss of time.
The main problem with this legend is that computer programs couldn't fail in this way, even if a day were missing; the program would continue to subtract dates in times in increments of 24 hours.
NASA's Public Affairs office has stated that "There is no truth to the recurring story that NASA uncovered a lost day in the movement of the Earth." However, Harold Hill publicized the legend in one of his books "How to Live Like a Kings' Kid."
Snopes.com comments that this is a very important urban legend for those who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible:
It shows that the Bible is literally true, even though its description of missing time seems very strange to-day.
It shows that the Bible knows more about science than do the scientists. Scientists and religion collided and the Bible is proven superior.
Unfortunately the legend is not true.
The NASA computers were running a program that computed the locations of the sun, moon, and planets at any time in the future or past. The purpose of the program was to prevent artificial satellites from colliding with these objects. This allegation is a good indication that the story is an urban legend.
Even satellites which are in geosynchronous orbit are only 22,241 miles (35,786 kilometers) above the surface of the earth, whereas the moon is more than ten times further away, and the sun and planets are tens of millions of miles from earth. So there is no possibility of a collision, and thus no need for such a program.
The legend maintains that the program allegedly failed consistently at a specific date in the past. Exactly 23 hours and 20 minutes was missing back in the time of Joshua. Someone at NASA allegedly went back to his/her office, read Joshua 10:12-13, (which talks about an interval of missing time approximately one day in duration) and the account of Isaiah's visit to Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:8-11 when God was said to have caused the sun to go backwards by 10 degrees and produce an additional 40 minutes lost time. This information accounted precisely for the entire loss of time.
The main problem with this legend is that computer programs couldn't fail in this way, even if a day were missing; the program would continue to subtract dates in times in increments of 24 hours.
NASA's Public Affairs office has stated that "There is no truth to the recurring story that NASA uncovered a lost day in the movement of the Earth." However, Harold Hill publicized the legend in one of his books "How to Live Like a Kings' Kid."
Snopes.com comments that this is a very important urban legend for those who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible:
It shows that the Bible is literally true, even though its description of missing time seems very strange to-day.
It shows that the Bible knows more about science than do the scientists. Scientists and religion collided and the Bible is proven superior.
Unfortunately the legend is not true.
http://sunnyokanagan.com/joshua/
Recently we did some work for an awesome man of God who has worked for Proctor and Gamble for around 25 years. Naturally I had to ask him about the P&G Logo and what he knew about it...
Proctor & Gamble and Satanism: The P & G logo was originally a cross within a circle - a symbol used on one of their 19th century products: star candles. Over time, the cross evolved into a star, then the single star became 13 stars - one for each of the 13 American colonies. A man in the moon was added around the end of the 19th century; this was a widespread image at the time - something like the "smiley face" is today.
The present logo design was created in 1930.
Rumors started to circulate in 1980 that P & G had been brought out by the Unification Church. The legend then took an sudden, interesting twist. The logo was said to be a Satanic symbol. The novel Michelle Remembers had been published about this time. It was presented as a documentary of Satanic Ritual Abuse, and triggered a Satanic panic throughout North America.
The P & G story expanded to include an allegation that the company was supporting Satanic cults with 10% of their profits. Then, an executive of the company was said to have admitted that "due to the openness of our society," he was announcing his company's connection with Satanism on a TV talk show. No one was quite able to specify exactly which show or which episode was involved.
It was said that you could connect the 13 stars with lines that would spell out 666, the number associated with the Antichrist in the Book of Revelation. Looking at the beard of the old man with a mirror, the number 666 is said to be visible.
The chairman of the board of P & G was supposed to have sold his soul to the Devil. "Proctor & Gamble worked very hard to counteract the rumors, issuing press releases, instigating legal action and even soliciting the support of leading Christian fundamentalists who announced their faith in the purity of the company."
By early 1991, the company had answered over 150,000 telephone calls and letters concerning the myth. In the early 1990's a couple in Kansas was found to have spread the rumor; P & G was awarded $75,000 in damages. They have filed at least 15 lawsuits against individual rumor mongers.
A trial began on 1999-MAY-3 in which Procter & Gamble are suing Amway distributors for allegedly reviving the Satanic rumors in 1995. P & G spokesperson Elaine Plummer commented: "It's a malicious lie that erodes the trust of customers and has cost us millions of dollars in sales."
Defense attorney Charles Babcock replied: "This rumor was started in churches...and Amway didn't have a thing to do with it. A few Amway independent distributors talked about the rumor - not in a mean-spirited way but in an informational way.''
The latest rumor is that the head of P&G appeared on the Sally Jesse Raphael Show on 1998-MAR-1. He allegedly repeated the 1980 comments: that his company was associated with the Church of Satan, that a large portion of their profits are donated to the Church. When asked whether this openness would cause economic consequences, he allegedly replied "There are not enough Christians in the United States to make a difference."
The executive producer of "Sally" has issued a statement saying that no executive from P&G has eve appeared on the show.
Variations of this rumor involve Ray Kroc of McDonalds, and an executive from Liz Clairborn; both are alleged to have Satanic connections. Merv Griffin, 60 Minutes, and Oprah Winfrey are other shows where P&G interviews are alleged to have occurred. Every element of the rumor is completely baseless.
Recently we did some work for an awesome man of God who has worked for Proctor and Gamble for around 25 years. Naturally I had to ask him about the P&G Logo and what he knew about it...
Proctor & Gamble and Satanism: The P & G logo was originally a cross within a circle - a symbol used on one of their 19th century products: star candles. Over time, the cross evolved into a star, then the single star became 13 stars - one for each of the 13 American colonies. A man in the moon was added around the end of the 19th century; this was a widespread image at the time - something like the "smiley face" is today.
The present logo design was created in 1930.
Rumors started to circulate in 1980 that P & G had been brought out by the Unification Church. The legend then took an sudden, interesting twist. The logo was said to be a Satanic symbol. The novel Michelle Remembers had been published about this time. It was presented as a documentary of Satanic Ritual Abuse, and triggered a Satanic panic throughout North America.
The P & G story expanded to include an allegation that the company was supporting Satanic cults with 10% of their profits. Then, an executive of the company was said to have admitted that "due to the openness of our society," he was announcing his company's connection with Satanism on a TV talk show. No one was quite able to specify exactly which show or which episode was involved.
It was said that you could connect the 13 stars with lines that would spell out 666, the number associated with the Antichrist in the Book of Revelation. Looking at the beard of the old man with a mirror, the number 666 is said to be visible.
The chairman of the board of P & G was supposed to have sold his soul to the Devil. "Proctor & Gamble worked very hard to counteract the rumors, issuing press releases, instigating legal action and even soliciting the support of leading Christian fundamentalists who announced their faith in the purity of the company."
By early 1991, the company had answered over 150,000 telephone calls and letters concerning the myth. In the early 1990's a couple in Kansas was found to have spread the rumor; P & G was awarded $75,000 in damages. They have filed at least 15 lawsuits against individual rumor mongers.
A trial began on 1999-MAY-3 in which Procter & Gamble are suing Amway distributors for allegedly reviving the Satanic rumors in 1995. P & G spokesperson Elaine Plummer commented: "It's a malicious lie that erodes the trust of customers and has cost us millions of dollars in sales."
Defense attorney Charles Babcock replied: "This rumor was started in churches...and Amway didn't have a thing to do with it. A few Amway independent distributors talked about the rumor - not in a mean-spirited way but in an informational way.''
The latest rumor is that the head of P&G appeared on the Sally Jesse Raphael Show on 1998-MAR-1. He allegedly repeated the 1980 comments: that his company was associated with the Church of Satan, that a large portion of their profits are donated to the Church. When asked whether this openness would cause economic consequences, he allegedly replied "There are not enough Christians in the United States to make a difference."
The executive producer of "Sally" has issued a statement saying that no executive from P&G has eve appeared on the show.
Variations of this rumor involve Ray Kroc of McDonalds, and an executive from Liz Clairborn; both are alleged to have Satanic connections. Merv Griffin, 60 Minutes, and Oprah Winfrey are other shows where P&G interviews are alleged to have occurred. Every element of the rumor is completely baseless.
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