The Photon Belt
The Photon Belt is a belief, largely linked to some parts of the new age movement, that there exists a band of photons which will collide with the earth in 2012 and cause massive failure of electrical equipment.
There are a number of related beliefs involving the belt but they have a few common elements. The first is that earth orbits the Pleiades cluster. This is not the case. The second is that a belt of photons also orbits The Cluster. No such belt has been observed (and it is hard to see how one could exist within the current understanding of the universe). The third is that earth is going to collide with this belt. A number of predictions have been made as to the date of this collision, so far none have been correct.
The first appearance of the idea appears to have been in an Australian UFO magazine in 1981. It gained in popularity after it was reprinted in the Australian Nexus magazine in February 1991.
Outline of belief
Somewhere in the universe there must be a center star(s) which everything spins around. As matter is pulled into this center, photon beams are emitted from the top and bottom poles.
Although our planet is a distance from the center sun and the photon band that encircles it, we will eventually pass through the band.
Some people say this will be the end of the world, however this planet has passed through the belt before. Electrons will not flow the same way so electronic devices on the planet will fail. Spiritually it represents a transition point but it is only a temporary window.
Original sources
The photon belt was described in the book "You Are Becoming A Galactic Human" by Virginia Essene and Sheldon Nidle, where it is presented as "Channeled information".
External links
ja:フォトンベルト