14 DAY TRIAL // Should one go through the trouble of googling “Apocalypse past predictions,” one would most likely stumble upon Wikipedia's impressive list of failed past predictions concerning the end of the world.
From what I can tell, there have been more than 200 such predictions throughout the years (truth be told, I stopped counting when I hit 150), so it must be a miracle that the human race is still very much alive and kicking.
Without further ado, here are the top 3 failed Apocalypse predictions:
3. Mass Suicide, Thanks to an Amateur Astrologist Who Said the Aliens Were Coming
Back in 1997, 39 people (all members of the Heaven's Gate cult) ended up killing themselves because amateur astrologist Chuck Shramek said that an UFO was trailing behind the comet Hale-Bopp.
Interestingly enough, Chuck Shramek never said that the alien ship and its crew were out to get us. Quite the contrary: he said that they were rushing towards Earth in order to rescue people from the end of the world.
So why did these 39 people kill themselves? Well, apparently this was the only way to get aboard the alien ship. Needless to say: no ship, no aliens, and definitely no doomsday.
2. Woman Says She'll Give Birth to Jesus Christ, Dies Instead
In 1814, a woman from Devon, England, said that, on Christmas day, she would give birth to Jesus Christ, and since the Bible clearly states that the second coming of the Messiah and the end of the world are very much intertwined, it was only natural that this birth would translate into the Apocalypse.
Granted, this lady was a 60-year-old virgin (so a tad older than the biblical Mary), but odds are age is of little importance when the matter at hand is miraculous births.
To cut a long story short: coming Christmas day, the woman dies. Again: no Messiah, and definitely no doomsday.
1. Cult Leader Says God Is Driving His Spaceship Towards Earth
On March 31, 1998, God was supposed to make an appearance on cable television in North America.
By means of this live stream, He was to make it public news that he was driving His spacecraft towards Earth, and that He was to be reunited with His worshipers sooner than one could say “doomsday.”
Or at least this is what one Taiwanese cult leader named Hon-Ming Chen said. I am still trying to decide whether this is funny or tragic (as far as IQ goes), yet it seems that some actually believed him.
Thus, 140 gentlemen and ladies gathered in Garland Texas, quietly awaiting for the end of the world. Yet again: no nothing (except disappointment).
So, how can the Mayans be wrong? In all fairness, at least they had the decency to keep things old-school (cataclysmic asteroids and deadly solar storms), and never said anything about spaceships and miraculous births.