Complex sentence: In 1969 Peter Van de Kamp claimed that a planet was orbiting Barnard's Star, and 1996 a claim of planets orbiting the nearby star Lalande 21185 appeared in the popular press.
Split into simpler sentences: In 1969 Peter Van de Kamp claimed that a planet was orbiting Barnard's Star. In 1996 a claim of planets orbiting the nearby star Lalande 21185 appeared in the popular press.