10 Failed Doomsday Predictions
November 16th, 20091. The Prophet Hen of Leeds, 1806: In the English town of Leeds in 1806 a hen supposedly began laying eggs on which the phrase “Christ is coming” was written. As news of the miracle spread, many people became convinced that doomsday was at hand – until a local actually watched the hen laying one of the prophetic eggs and discovered someone had hatched a hoax.
2. The Millerites, April 23, 1843: A New England farmer named William Miller, after several years of very careful study of his Bible, concluded that God’s chosen time to destroy the world could be divined from a strict literal interpretation of scripture. He said the world would end sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844. He eventually led thousands of followers known as Millerites who decided that the actual date was April 23, 1843. When April 23rd arrived and Jesus didn’t the group eventually disbanded – some of them forming what is now the Seventh Day Adventists.
3. Mormon Armageddon, 1891 or earlier: Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church, called a meeting of his church leaders in February 1835 to tell them that he had spoken to God recently, and during their conversation he learned that Jesus would return within the next 56 years, after which the End Times would begin promptly.
4. Halley’s Comet, 1910: In 1881, an astronomer discovered through spectral analysis that comet tails include a deadly gas called cyanogen (related to cyanide). This was of only passing interest until someone realized that Earth would pass through the tail of Halley’s Comet in 1910, resulting in a widespread panic across the U.S. and abroad.
5. Pat Robertson, 1982: In May 1980, televangelist and Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson informed his “700 Club” audience, “I guarantee you by the end of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world.”
6. Heaven’s Gate, 1997: When comet Hale-Bopp appeared in 1997, rumors surfaced that an alien spacecraft was following the comet – covered up by NASA. Though the claim was refuted by astronomers, the rumors were publicized on Art Bell’s paranormal radio talk show “Coast to Coast AM.” These claims inspired a San Diego UFO cult named Heaven’s Gate to conclude that the world would end soon; 39 of the cult members committed suicide on March 26, 1997.
7. Nostradamus, August 1999: One of the most famous quatrains by Nostradamus read, “The year 1999, seventh month / From the sky will come great king of terror.” Many Nostradamus devotees grew concerned that this was the famed prognosticator’s vision of Armageddon.
8. Y2K, January 1, 2000: As the last century drew to a close, many people grew concerned that computers might bring about doomsday. The problem, first noted in the early 1970s, was that many computers would not be able to tell the difference between 2000 and 1900 dates. Many suggested catastrophic problems ranging from vast blackouts to nuclear holocaust. Gun sales jumped and survivalists prepared to live in bunkers, but the new millennium began with only a few glitches.
9. May 5, 2000: Richard Noone, author of the 1997 book “5/5/2000 Ice: the Ultimate Disaster,” claimed that the Antarctic ice mass would be three miles thick by May 5, 2000 – a date in which the planets would be aligned in the heavens, somehow resulting in a global icy death.
10. God’s Church Ministry, Fall 2008: A 2006 book by God’s Church minister Ronald Weinland, “2008: God’s Final Witness,” stated that hundreds of millions of people will die and by the end of 2006, “there will be a maximum time of two years remaining before the world will be plunged into the worst time of all human history. By the fall of 2008, the United States will have collapsed as a world power, and no longer exist as an independent nation.”
Just food for thought! 
-J.R.
