7 times future predictions caught our attention but failed to happen!

The longing to have a peek into the future of human life will maintain societies’ curiosity in unseen domain for years

Tanveer Khadim February 04, 2016
Recently, a Bulgaria born clairvoyant Baba Vanga made head lines in newspapers all over the globe because she foresaw an invasion of Europe by Muslim extremists (most probably by Islamic State – ISIS) in 2016. The blind prophetess, who is also known as Nostradamus of Balkans, further predicted that there will be use of catastrophic chemical warfare against Europeans in this war which would lead to the creation of an Islamic caliphate by 2043. She even claimed that Rome will be the epicentre of the new Muslim political-religious rule.

Baba VangaPhoto: YouTube

This is not the first time that a seer has made headlines for unusually grim predictions. Every year, newspapers, e-magazines feature stories and television talk-shows reveal hundreds of such dramatic annual predictions for the year ahead. Mostly based on half-baked construal made by some mystic-psychic, these predictions imply absolutely nothing factual or logical. These anticipations generally classify an incident to befall at a particular time in the near future.

We have heard predictions of high-level assassinations, the apocalypse, disasters, head-on collisions between earth and astronomical bodies, the end of the world, the battle of Armageddon beginning this year and even the arrival of the Antichrist, to name a few.

Interestingly, everywhere on the map, people have been following and supporting these weird predictions for decades because such hypotheses are overly hyped for the sake of sensationalism. The formula is pretty easy. Make people think they are going to die, make it awfully gloomy and ominous with some confusing chronicle. It is all a very attention-worthy recipe, and believe me, people will accept it as true. It is fairly simple for people to remember the sensations and forget how distorted and hazy the prognostications often were. This happens because people have a hard time differentiating harsh logic from irrational belief and reasoning from imagination, just like they can’t distinguish history from pseudo history.

There are numerous chilling predictions that have never occurred and even famous clairvoyants’ insights that have gone wrong. Yet, we believe them.

Many predictions have been made about the impending 'doomsday' by various mystics and spiritual cults. As per many predictors, life on earth was supposed to end in the years 1988, 1995, and 2000. Reality is that we somehow missed these times.

In 2006, a fraction of hysterical people believed that a complete destruction of earth will occur on June 6, 2006. Luckily, we survived.

Another catastrophe was believed to take place in 2011 to wipe out the life on earth. Many were disappointed it never happened.

Another foremost date for doomsday or the Mayan Apocalypse was announced as December 2012 – however nothing happened and we are still here to enjoy every bit of life.

Here are some of the weirdest predictions that failed miserably:

1) The Mormon Apocalypse:

In September 2015, the followers of Mormon cult believed blood moon will mark the beginning of the end of the world with pre-apocalyptic events. So, they bought survival kits with food, flashlights, blankets etc. This time, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had to rescue people by announcing that life would not end because of any forthcoming asteroid strike.

The Red MoonPhoto: Follownews

Now don’t be too happy, because according to a fresh prediction of doomsayers, the new doomsday will occur on January 1, 2017.

2) Armageddon:

Like doomsday, there are thousands of predictions for the battle of Armageddon. One such calculation predicted that as soon as earth’s dwellers reach 6.66 billion population, Armageddon will take place. The desired populace reached this figure in 2006 and proved the weird prediction completely incorrect.

3) Christ Is Coming:

In 1806, people of Leeds, England, were hoaxed by The Prophet Hen of Leeds. The story is very interesting; a domesticated hen started laying eggs with an emblazoned prophetic message ‘Christ is coming’. People in groups began visiting the hen to see the miraculous eggs and established that Judgment Day was indeed very near. However, the owner of the hen was caught writing messages on the eggs and reinserting them into the hen’s oviduct.



4) Y2K BUG:

Throughout the globe, it was believed that Y2K or the millennium bug would end times due to a total collapse of civilisation. It was said that when timepieces struck midnight – shifting from 1999 to 2000 the world would come to an end. However, the next morning, the apocalyptic hopes of many people faded as their expectations failed to materialise.

5) Botched divinations of Nostradamus:

A 16th century French apothecary and reputed clairvoyant, Michel de Nostredame aka Nostradamus is widely believed to have published thousands of accurate prophesies. His followers still believe that he predicted the future. However, his failed prophesies can provide ample proof that people should not take his insights seriously.

Michel de Nostredame aka NostradamusPhoto: YouTube

Nostradamus’s failed oracles comprised of the Catholic Church’s persecution of the astrologers in 1607, the capturing of Arabs by the King of Morocco in 1607, Campania monk as pope in 1609, Turkey’s huge victory over Europe in 1700, Turks arrest of the King of Persia in 1727 and the annihilation of human life due to natural disasters in 1732 to name a few.

Another one of his predictions in 1999, which people believe to be 9/11, was when he claimed that a King of Terror or Beast of the Apocalypse was going to hit the city of 'York'. Furthermore, his enigmatic prediction for a 9.8 magnitude California earthquake on May 28, 2015 due to planetary alignments and the disappearance of language differences in 2015 never happened.

6) Failed prophesies of Baba Vanga:

Although she has made headlines in newspapers for her mysterious predictions, there are plentiful failed prophesies on her credit as well. For 2010, Baba Vanga predicted the assassination of four heads of state that would eventually lead to World War III; nothing yet.

She also predicted a nuclear war taking place between 2010 and 2014, and foresaw that a vast majority of people would be diagnosed with skin cancer in the year 2014. This again, did not happen.

Vanga also predicted a Muslim chemical war against Europe in 2013 which didn’t happen either.

7) Paul, the Octopus:

Apart from humans, animals, apparently, can also predict the future. Yup, it's true. The psychic Paul, the octopus was one such animal that was said to have perfectly anticipated the results of the FIFA World Cup in 2008 and 2010. Paul predicted different results by selecting food in glass boxes containing country flags representing two football teams. His success rate was 11 out of 13. A vast majority of people believed that oracle Paul was well trained by his masters in picking specific teams.

Paul, the OctopusPhoto: AFP

Mystics and soothsayers have been forecasting the future for centuries and their divinations will keep attracting people from all walks of life. Despite the fact that these so called prophesies failed, the longing to have a peek into the future of human life will maintain societies’ curiosity in unseen domain for years to come.
WRITTEN BY:
Tanveer Khadim An avid reader, freelance writer and a blogger, Tanveer is pursuing fashion designing. She has a passion for cooking, attended cookery courses and tweets as @TheFusionDiary (twitter.com/TheFusionDiary)
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (7)

Bryan See | 6 years ago | Reply She said: "Numerous catastrophes and disasters will shake the world. The mentality of the people will change. They will be divided by their faith..." One of her understandably more popular predictions is that when the permafrost thaws and the floods come, nothing will survive on Earth but Russia. The climate will change and Russia will occupy the best inhabitable zone." Russia is predicted to herald in world peace and flourish in the face of good fortune "Everything will melt away like ice yet the glories of Vladimir (effectively today's Russian fuehrer) , the glory of Russia are the only things that will remain. Russia will not only survive, it will dominate the world."
Mr best | 7 years ago | Reply Omo,dis guys gave a very good shock,I can't believe I almost believed them,I don't want to criticise because I feel they are spritiual but I still don't get how they see d future,I have a longing in me 2 know more about this. To end,all I have 2 do is to live my life and serve my God,he knows d future
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