Page 11 - 200911 - The 'X' Chronicles newspaper - November 2009

november2009_june_july_2009.qxd 23/11/2009 4:37 PM Page 11 11 15 Doomsday Prophecies 11 15 Doomsday Prophecies 2012: 15 doomsday himself Shoko Asahara and mashes together Prophet: Robert Bremer and others 2012: 15 doomsday prophecies and how various aspects of Buddhism, chunks of Details: Computer scientist Bremer and others prophecies and how Nostradamus' apocalyptic predictions, they turned out Christianity, science fiction, Hinduism, anime see potential catastrophe coming on Jan. 1, they turned out and yoga into Aum Shinrikyo ("Supreme 2000, due to computers the world over using Truth"), an Armageddon-focused cult based in two-digit representations of years in dates rather Continued from Page 9 Japan, with tens of thousands of members than four digits. With the coming of the new Continued from Page 9 worldwide. After proclaiming himself a new century, the computers would go all HAL-from- Christ, traveling to the year 2006 and talking to 2001 on our asses, unable to function without a Number 9: Date World Ends: 1988/1989/1990/1993 the survivors of World War III (so he claims), clear time reference once the date prefix "19" no Asahara preps his followers for a Final War longer applied. This would lead to failures of against the enemies of Japan. After a few banking systems, municipal computing botched attempts at initiating germ warfare, systems, air traffic control ... things that humans Aum Shinrikyo spreads deadly nerve gas ordinarily do a fine job of mucking up on our through the Tokyo subway system, killing 12 own. Up to $200 billion may have been spent and injuring thousands in March 1995. After an worldwide (maybe $100 billion in the U.S. eight-year trial, Asahara is convicted and alone) to make computers compliant with the sentenced to death. new post-2000 date change. Relatively minor glitches occur worldwide on Jan. 1, but there's How It Turned Out: World—and Asahara— no way of telling what may have failed if still here, awaiting execution. precautions hadn't been taken. Number 11: Date World Ends: 1999 How It Turned Out: World still here. Number 13: Date World Ends: Dec. 21, 2012 Type of Prophecy: Biblical apocalypse/Rapture Prophet: Edgar Whisenant Details: In 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988, Whisenant, a NASA engineer, does some serious crunching of numerical clues in the Bible and locks down the date of the Rapture, solidly, as coming between Sept. 11 Type of Prophecy: 2012/Maya variant and 13, 1988. His book sells millions of copies. Overeager Edgar even says, "Only if the Bible Prophet: Mayan Long Count Calendar is in error am I wrong, and I say that to every preacher in town." Undaunted, and determined Type of Prophecy: Nostradamus Details: Of the several calendars used by the to make apocalyptic lemonade out of his gaffe, Mayans, one called the Long Count predicts Whisenant uses failure of the Rapture coming as Prophet: Nostradamus that the current cycle of history will end on Dec. an opportunity to sell more books as he pushes 21, 2012. Whether that "cycle" is partly defined the date back to 1989. Then to 1990. And then Details: Nostradamus, writing in 1555, predicts in cultural terms by Emmerich's ability to get 1993 ... the end of the world for the year 1999. Maybe. funding for disaster movies remains to be seen Or he predicts a meteor strike that will kill after the grosses of 2012 come in. millions and throw the world into political How It Turned Out: World still here. chaos. Maybe. Or it could be an asteroid. How Will It Turned Out: ? Number 10: Date World Ends: 1995 Maybe. Or it could be a UFO with attendant alien invasion. Maybe. Or it could be, as some Number 14: Date World Ends: 2012 (Pg 12) believe, that he predicts the plane crash that kills John F. Kennedy Jr. Maybe. It all depends on how you choose to read his murky and cryptic predictions. Personally, I choose to believe that he refers to the success of Michael Bay's Armageddon, which was released on July 1, 1998, and was just one year off in his forecast. What else could "seven months into the year" and "From the sky will come the great King of Terror" possibly refer to? How It Turned Out: World still here. Bay still making movies. Number 12: Date World Ends Jan. 1, 2000 Type of Prophecy: Millennial (Y2K variant) Have You Missed Any Of The ‘X’ Zone Shows? Type of Prophecy: Nostradamus/various No Worries! Prophet: Shoko Asahara www.xzonepodcast.com Details: In 1987, Chizuo Matsumoto renames