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This is not the first time that a planet has been reportedly seen lurking just outside the solar system and so far, all the predictions have been wrong. However, this one prediction made recently have all the makings of being right. According to a new study published by Caltech, there might a planet out there with a strong gravitational pull influencing the orbits of other planets, making them take strange paths around the sun, reported National Geographic News

Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin, two Caltech astronomers, have noted some bizarre behavior at the fringe of our solar system and think that there may be another planet orbiting the sun, 500 times farther from the earth. The evidence of this claim contains weird alignment of Kuiper Belt Objects, aka KPOs, also referred to as the close cousins of Pluto. These ice-bound orbs are seen in the distant rear region of the solar system. It was their discovery that led to Pluto's relegation from the planetary status, as reported by Huffington Post.

Even the evidence seems tantalizing, it is also circumstantial. Greg Laughlin, UCSC astronomer says that there is 68.3% chance of the planet's existence. However, Konstantin Batygin, the second researcher in the Caltech team insists that the chances are at least 83%, reports National Geographic News

As per the outside scientists, the calculations made by the two prominent scientists at Caltech do stack up and is a moment of excitement as well as caution about the result. "I could not imagine a bigger deal if-and of course that's a boldface 'if'-if it turns out to be right," says Gregory Laughlin, a planetary scientist at the University of California (UC), Santa Cruz. "What's thrilling about it is [the planet] is detectable," Science Mag says