Opservatorij se nekoliko puta našao u vijestima. 10. prosinca 1983. izjavljeno je kako je opservatorij otkrio "nepoznati objekt", prvotno opisan kao "vjerovatnovjerojatno velik kao [[Jupiter]] i toliko blizu [[Zemlja|Zemlji]] da će postati dio našeg [[Sunčev sustav|sunčeva sustava]]."<ref>{{Predložak:Citiranje novina|url=http://web.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/tchester/iras/washington_post_mystery_object.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20100201211608/http://web.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/tchester/iras/washington_post_mystery_object.html|archivedate=2010-02-01|title=Mystery Heavenly Body Discovered|work=Washington Post|accessdate=2008-01-28|author=Thomas O'Toole|page=A1|date=1983-12-30}}</ref><ref>{{Predložak:Citiranje novina|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Za80AAAAIBAJ&sjid=jaUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6060,3461403&dq=heavenly+body+iras&hl=en|title=Mystery heavenly body found close to Earth|work=[[The Gazette (Montreal)|The Gazette]]|agency=Washington Post|accessdate=2012-10-16|page=A-2|date=1983-12-30}}</ref> Daljnja je analiza ustvrdila kako su, od nekoliko nepoznatih objekata, njih devet udaljene galaksije a deseti je "intergalaktički cirus".<ref name="Chester-CalTech">{{Predložak:Citiranje weba|url=http://web.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/tchester/iras/no_tenth_planet_yet.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20100202054332/http://web.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/tchester/iras/no_tenth_planet_yet.html|archivedate=2010-02-02|publisher=Thomas J. Chester ([[California Institute of Technology|CalTech]])|title=No Tenth Planet Yet From IRAS|accessdate=2008-01-28|author=Thomas J. Chester}}</ref> Ni jedna od navedenih nije u Sunčevom sustavu.<ref name="Chester-CalTech">{{Predložak:Citiranje weba|url=http://web.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/tchester/iras/no_tenth_planet_yet.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20100202054332/http://web.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/tchester/iras/no_tenth_planet_yet.html|archivedate=2010-02-02|publisher=Thomas J. Chester ([[California Institute of Technology|CalTech]])|title=No Tenth Planet Yet From IRAS|accessdate=2008-01-28|author=Thomas J. Chester}}</ref><ref name="PlanetX">{{Predložak:Citiranje weba|date=2010-11-17|title=The Planet X Saga: Science|publisher=Bad Astronomy|author=[[Phil Plait]]|url=http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planetx/science.html|accessdate=2011-03-05}}</ref>
