Predicting the Predictions

Press Release
For Immediate Release
April 6, 2000

Richard Noone, author of 5/5/2000 Ice: the Ultimate Disaster, thinks that we can expect anything from "a few earthquakes" to the revolt of every natural phenomenon. Shifting tectonic plates will create Richter 13 megaquakes. Polar ice will melt, raising sea levels by hundreds of feet. Supersonic winds will blast cities to rubble, and massive walls of ice jarred from their polar repositories will careen over the planet scything down everything in their path.

Recent media coverage has taken the scientific point of view about the coming planetary alignment. Robert Roy Britt, senior science writer for www.space.com, lays out the facts about the puny gravitational forces at work in his March 9 online article. Quoting Donald Yeoman of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Britt writes: "A baseball held at arms length has more tidal effect on you than Mars at its closest."

Even the combined gravitational tug of all the planets is a minute fraction of the tidal forces the Moon exerts on the Earth every day. However, as Associated Press writer Matthew Fordahl notes in his April 5 story, astrologers are concerned mainly because the May 5 alignment signals the transition to the Age of Aquarius. According to astrologer Norman Arens, a pileup of "energy" will lead to "very serious reversals in the stock market." Arens also sees the same sorts of natural disasters ahead of us that Richard Noone has predicted.

Belgian amateur astronomer Jean Meeus-writing about the May 5, 2000 doomsday claims in the Spring 1988 issue of Skeptical Inquirer magazine-might just have got the scoop on doomsday prophets and journalists alike. Meeus writes, "And now let me make a prediction. When the year 2000 passes without having brought a catastrophe, doomsayers will provide us still another date for the end of the world. …Let me propose August 27, 2003, when Mars will come closer to Earth than at any time in the past several thousand years…. Or doomsday could take place on May 28-29, 2048, when Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets in the sky, will be in superior conjunction with the Sun…or on any date you like."

Perhaps the surest bet in the house is that rumors of your impending doom are greatly exaggerated.

CSICOP's May 5, 2000 Doomsday Survival Checklist

What can I do to prepare?

1. Relax. Breathe in deeply and exhale slowly. While doomsday events are incredibly rare, actual doomsday predictions shook ancient civilizations - and experts predict they WILL SOON HAPPEN AGAIN!

2. Learn about the ominous pattern of global events that the government and the doomsayers haven't told you about:
   • In 1910, as the Earth was about to pass through the "poisonous" vapors of the tail of Halley's Comet, some people panicked-nothing happened.

   • In 1968, the major asteroid Icarus passed within a mere 4 million miles of the Earth. There were dire predictions of am possible collision-nothing happened.

   • In 1974, John Gribbin and Stephen Plagemann published The Jupiter Effect. The authors predicted that an alignment of the planets, an increase in sunspot activity, and devastating earthquakes in Los Angeles would all occur in 1982. Some people panicked-nothing happened.

   This is just what THEY don't want you to know!

3. Understand the mysterious forces at work behind the coming planetary alignment:
   • According to Donald Yeomans of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, "A baseball held at arms length has more tidal effect on you than Mars at its closest [to Earth]."

   • According to Belgian astronomer Jean Meeus, "…an exact alignment of all planets cannot have the slightest effect on the Sun or on Earth….consider the fact that the tidal action of the Moon far surpasses that of all the planets combined.

   • The height of the tidal bulge the alignment of planets would exert on the Sun would amount to two millimeters.

   • You may experience dizziness or anxiety on May 5, but remember: the effects of the planets on the earth are psychological, not physical.

4. Brace yourself for the inevitable horror: civilization will be much the same on March 6, 2000.

How do I find out more about the May 5 alignment?

1. Read the article "Mass Delusions and Hysterias: Highlights from the Past Millennium" in the upcoming May/June 2000 issue of Skeptical Inquirer.

2. Go to www.csicop.org: CSICOP has posted Jean Meeus' prophetic article Doomsday: The May 2000 Prediction (Spring 1988 Skeptical Inquirer) online.

3. Stockpile food, lighter fluid, and charcoal. Gather your closest friends and family in one place-Memorial Day 2000 promises to be a great, sunny day!

Related Information

• Doomsday: The May 2000 Prediction
  (Skeptical Inquirer, Spring 1988)

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