Youth Incorporated Magazine

Whether you’re someone who took 2012 way too seriously, or just delight in the thrill of conspiracy theories, there’s no denying that the ‘end of the world’ is a largely overrated and talked about phenomenon. While there have been theories floating around for years together, here are the five times that they cooked up quite a storm across the globe –

2011

Harold Camping, a retired engineer who founded an evangelical radio ministry and broadcasts that the Rapture, or the end of the world, would take place on May 21^st 2011. He predicted that devastating earthquakes would occur and that God would take 3% of the world’s population into heaven. His ministry spent millions of dollars to spread the word on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 trucks plastered with the Judgment Day message. Some of his followers even quit their jobs and sold all their possessions, even making donations to his ministry. When his predictions did not come true (obviously), he rephrased his prophecy to say that his prediction was 5 months early. When that didn’t materialize either, Camping gave up public prophecy.

2012

Probably the most famous and almost believed end of the world phenomenon, it was even made into a movie. Legend has it the end of the Mayan calendar on December 21^st 2012 signified the end of the world and the prediction wreaked havoc among many. However, NASA debunked the Mayan theory saying just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31^st, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012. Instead, it just starts over again”.

2013

Grigori Rasputin, also known as the ‘Devil Monk’ announced that the world would come to an end on August 23^rd, 2013. Certain documents recovered that belonged to him revealed that he predicted the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and the assassination of Tsar Nicholas and his family. He anticipated the emergence and dominance of Hitler, first moon landing and the collapse of the USSR. He predicted that a fire would devour all living things, and the planet would face a graving silence, and Jesus Christ would return to comfort those in distress. Given the accuracy of his previous predictions many people were alarmed.

2014-2015

In April 2014, there was a series of four consecutive total lunar eclipses right up till September 2015. The ‘Blood Moon Prophecy’ which was largely promoted by Christian ministers John Hagee and Mark Biltz stated that a tetrad, or a series of four consecutive lunar eclipses, which began in April 2014, would signify the end of times as stated in the Bible in the Book of Joel, Acts 2:20 and Revelation 6:12. However, in January 2014, Mike Moore, then General Secretary of Christian Witness to Israel, wrote a lengthy article dismissing the claims of Biltz and Hagee stating that no significance can be drawn from the eclipses.

2017-2018

Conspiracy theorist David Meade was notorious for his predictions about the rapture caused by planet ‘Nibiru’. His wild theory claimed that Nibiru or ‘Planet X’ would pass the earth causing the start of the rapture with huge volcanoes and volcanic eruptions due to its gravitational force. He initially made this prediction in September 2017 and according to the Sun, when the date passed without apocalyptic incident, Meade insisted that people misunderstood his Planet X prophecy. Instead, he then claimed that October 15 would herald seven years of nuclear war and natural disasters, marking ‘the end of the world as we now know it’. After his 2017 prediction failed, he then claimed that the rapture would take place on April 23^rd 2018. No prizes for guessing if that one was true!