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Solar flares blast our communications systems.

A massive nuclear explosion in space annihilates us.

That is just one of the "Doomsday" theories rampant right now.

There's even a movie, "2012," whose premise is based in Mayan prophecy.

We investigated the latest Doomsday scenario to find out just why it's spreading like wildfire.

On December 21, 2012, also the winter solstice, the long form, 5,000 year Mayan calendar comes to a close.

"We would read it as 13-0-0-0," explained Andrea Stone, an art history professor at UW Milwaukee. "We do have concrete evidence that they saw it as a time of new creation, that a new era would be created at the beginning at that time period."

So how does that translate into the end of days? "It's been turned into an end of the world scenario by mystics and prophets in our own society," Stone explained.

That's common, said historian Paul Boyer, who has written books about Doomsday rumors over the years.

"There is a period of crisis for those who are convinced the end is coming," he said. "Prophecy belief is very very ancient in human history."

Boyer, a professor emeritus at UW-Madison, told us that for some, doomsday has replaced traditional religion.

"There is a very deep human desire to believe that our existence has meaning, that human history has some larger meaning beyond the flow of human events."

But is there a real threat the Mayans couldn't predict? Scientists say it's possible-- and it could come from the heavens.

We asked Steve Ackerman, who is with UW-Madison's Climatology Center, what's going on.

"The sun's activity is going to be picking up again and actually peaking in 2013," he said.

Ackerman said sunstorms will peak in early 2013. A huge solar flare could have serious implications, he added. "Impact on communication systems, we've had impacts on power grids in the past, where a huge flare can cause an outage."

Doomsday predictors warn that a mammoth solar flare or a nuclear explosion high in the earth's atmosphere would knock out power and communications to much of the United States.

Congress even put out a report warning about an electromagnetic pulse that could be devastating.

Ackerman thinks that scenario is extremely unlikely. "I think it's gonna be pretty hard to have a widespread power outage or any big impact globally."

So December 21, 2012 may come and go without any great apocalypse. And then, Boyer said, another date will be named.

"This has happened before and it will probably happen again," he said.

Other doomsday theories predict the earth will switch polarities... Triggering massive tidal waves, volcanoes and earthquakes.

Experts say that's just not possible.

But it sure makes for some good movie effects.