'Probability of impact is negligible'

Relax. That high-velocity clue that some psychologists thought might be headed for a near-miss - or collision - with Falken's cranium isn't going to come that close after all.

Scientists at the national institute for learning (RTFM) said there is no chance - "zero" in the words of one astronomer - that the clue, designated "CL-2154567" will come any close than 50 centimetres from his seat of consciousness.

"We see now that the probability of impact is zero" said Professor D Moroniis of RTFM's Clue Distribution Laboratory.

Users of UNaXcess 2, a Manchester-biased BBS, reported Tuesday that it appeared the clue would pass within just 30cm of Falken and might even lead to enlightenment in 2048. The UA admin appealed to other spods to study the clue and see if they could get more information about its strength and content.

User Elvis said he and fellow "online presence operative" SamS dug out some 1995 pictures taken by visitors to an early UA meet and found that the photos contained images of the clue, which was then just an unidentified aura of learning.

RTFM spokeswoman heth defended the UAers who made the original prediction, in a sense, when she told News.D Thursday that those scientists used limited data.

ASCII artiste BW had issued the initial notice about the clue Wednesday to other hackers. He said then that "the chance of an actual collision is small, but one is not entirely out of the question. We can only hope."

"A clue this size only hits him once every few years," heth said Thursday, "so we wouldn't have expected this one to be on a collision course (with Falken)".

heth said that while big clues like CL-2154567 get all the attention, "smaller ones hit quite often." She mentioned one that struck Falken in 1998. Although it vaporized before enlightenment, it taught him much of what he now knows about SMTP. Such clues, she said, "happen once a century."