NASA: Blood Moon and asteroid impact won't herald biblical Apocalypse on September 28

USA: NASA has ruled out an asteroid striking the Earth on September 28 - an impact supposedly foretold by the Blood Moon.

The space agency says it is constantly monitoring the heavens for signs of any incoming asteroids and has given the all-clear.

It uses an automated collision monitoring system called Sentry that continually scans an "asteroid catalogue" for the possibility of an impact.

"NASA knows of no asteroid or comet currently on a collision course with Earth, so the probability of a major collision is quite small," said a spokesperson.

"In fact, as best as we can tell, no large object is likely to strike the Earth any time in the next several hundred years."

Plenty of conspiracy theorists are concerned about the appearance of a Blood Moon on September 28 - an event they believe signals the end of days.

The hypothesis was originally made famous by Christian ministers John Hagee and Mark Biltz.

They said the ongoing "tetrad" - four consecutive lunar eclipses which began in April 2014 with six full moons in between - is the indicator of the end of earth as described in the Bible in Acts 2:20 and Revelation 6:12 .

Concerned stargazers believe the Blood Moon could signal the end.

In reality, a Blood Moon is a a rather spectacular sight caused by the reflection of sunlight on the Earth's atmosphere - which is red to the naked eye.

What is a Blood Moon?

Fans of the Twilight books are already familiar with this term, but alas it has nothing to do with blood sucking vampires.

In fact a Blood Moon is a rather spectacular sight caused by the reflection of sunlight on the Earth's atmosphere - which is red to the naked eye. The blood moon acquires a golden, copper, or even rusty-red color depending on where the sun is - and it's usually low in the sky or near the horizon.

What is the Blood Moon Prophecy?

The hypothesis was originally made famous by Christian ministers John Hagee and Mark Biltz who said the ongoing "tetrad" - four consecutive lunar eclipses which began in April 2014 with six full moons in between - is the indicator of the end of earth as described in the Bible in Acts 2:20 and Revelation 6:12.

The pair insist some sort of tragic event is set to hit earth and possibly wipe it out - but the reality is this is not the first time we've had such a phenomenon. "The last time there was a tetrad was back in the 1900s, and to my amazement, they also fell on the feasts of Passover and Tabernacles," explains Blitz. "When I noticed the years these phenomena occurred, my mind began reeling. The last two times there were four blood moons in a row, they happened, first, right after Israel became a nation in 1948, and then again when Israel retook Jerusalem in 1967.”

The "blood moon" theory is interpreted from the Book of Joel, which says: "the sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."

Why all the doom and gloom?

Well, it's complicated and it depends who you believe. Some say it signals a significant celestial event, others say it will trigger the second coming while more yet are predicting a catastrophic asteroid hit that will blow the planet to smitherines.

Rev Efrain Rodriguez is one self-proclaimed prophet who is so convinced he got a message from God - in fact, he was so sure of it, he wrote to NASA to warn them about his fears. He regularly updates readers of his Facebook page with stark warnings he says are from a deity - and for those who believe him - it's a pretty bleak outlook.

If what he's saying is true then it's time to say goodbye to loved ones as he claims an asteroid up to 2.5miles wide will strike Puerto Rico and will go on to wipe out the world as we know it.

Rodriguez's vision saw a massive asteroid "entering the airspace of the town of Arecibo in Puerto Rico, striking the sea between the island of Mona and Mayaguez and triggering a magnitude 12 earthquake."

If it has any basis in fact, this claim would undoubtedly cause a planet altering event - as the world's most powerful earthquake left 4,485 people dead and injured as well as 2 million homeless after it struck southern Chile in 1960. It was 9.5 on the Richter scale.