Top 5 Apocalypse Flops

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Jovarie
Jovarie
Hi there! I am a freelance writer who lives and breaths content on a daily basis. I consider myself to be a living paradox. An old soul trapped in a modern world. A self-proclaimed hopeless romantic and a professional over-thinker. I can't start anything unless I have my coffee. Writing has been and always will be my way of calming the storms in my heart and mind.

For over centuries, the world is in a state of fear that one day the world would end and that all living creatures on this planet would die through different methods. These prophets have claimed to have seen the future but not all prophecies turned out to be true. Here are the top 5 apocalypse flops.

1. Y2K

The Y2k bug or the Millennium bug was a problem for both the digital and non-digital documentation which resulted in a massive apocalyptic threat during the last year of the millennium. The problem with the Y2k bug was that all computers would cease to work by the time the computer clock hits January 1, 2000. This is because computers are not able to decipher the number 2 and would cause massive disruption in the function of the computers. With that, computers would not function well or that programs would work all wonky. Computer-generated machines and security systems would be compromised. Facilities that rely heavily on computers would be disabled until a resolution is found. One such incident happened on December 28, 1999, which fueled the feat that computers and machines would break down and would not function when 10,000 card swipe machines issued by HSBC stopped processing debit and credit card transactions. It was then found out that the machines started working again on the first of January. Another incident happened in Japan wherein the alarm sounded on a nuclear power plant just prior to midnight. This heightened the fear that the Y2l bug would destroy the computers and that humanity will be going back to manual functioning in order to perform complex tasks.

But, as the world soon would discover, by the time several countries were way over the first of January in the year 2000, the computers continued to function. In fact, every computer functioned well than expected and the Y2k bug was classified as an apocalypse flop. The total cost of the work done to prepare for the damage of the Y2k bug was estimated at around 300 billion US dollars.

2. The Rapture

Harold Camping was a Christian radio broadcaster with a huge following of more than 200 million people all over the world. His radio show would be pushed into a worldwide phenomenon when he predicted that the world would come to an end with The Rapture. Camping predicted that Jesus Christ would return to Earth on May 21, 2011, and the world would be set on fire and the Earth will be plagued with diseases. Millions of people were to suffer each day culminating until October 21, 2011, with the destruction of the world. Only those who were righteous would be lifted up into the sky and be saved. His prediction of the May 21, 2011 apocalypse was so large scale that it prompted different nations especially Christian nations to prepare their citizens for the coming apocalypse.

But, when May 21, 2011, passed, the Earth was still filled with bustling people and there were no brimstone or fire from the sky. Harold Camping made a press appearance on May 23, 2011, citing that he was surprised that the Rapture did not happen and said that it will happen again on October 21st. When he suffered a stroke in June 2011, he totally avoided the press. It was later on October 21 when he predicted the Rapture to happen again that his prediction faltered once more.

It was also days before this happened that he has announced his resignation from his position at the radio station he was working in. Although he had not returned with his position at the radio station, he is still very much active with managing the station from his own home. Camping also made a claim of apocalypse way back on September 6, 1994.

3. Halley’s Comet

Halley’s Comet has been one very fascinating astronomical phenomenon. It is one of the many astrological entities that keep on visiting the Earth. And with that, several apocalyptic prophecies were bound to be formulated either through sheer madness or to spread fear and chaos. Halley’s Comet is a ball of icy dust that visits the Earth every 76 years. But, it was in 1910 that a massive outbreak of news that the comet would strike the Earth inspired fear in the people. The Chicago Yerkes Observatory claimed that the comet’s tail is made of poisonous gas that would instantly kill every human being on Earth once it has passed our planet.

Several opportunistic people found that it could be a source of income and developed comet pills and gas masks that would protect them from the incoming onslaught and help them survive the incoming Armageddon.

As the date approaches, more and more people started to panic. But, it was until the night that the comet passed through the Earth that the hysteria died down and people were surprised that the comet passed through safely. Others who did not believe the prediction simply enjoyed the night.

4. The Red Giant

Another form of end of the world prediction is the Red Giant. Scientists believe that 7.6 billion years from now, the sun would enter its red giant phase and would swallow the Earth with intense heat.

Once the sun enters its Red Giant phase, the sun will expand up to 20 percent of its original size and it would shine 3,000 times brighter. This would engulf almost all of the planets of the Solar System. Once the stage ends, the sun would turn into a small white dwarf.

Whether or not this would happen is one of the hottest debates in the science community today.

5. December 21, 2012

Everyone in the last few years has known that by December 21, 2012, the world would end based on the Mayan belief that the world would be doomed by this day. Scientists have discovered that the Mayan calendar ended on this date and that the world would end by that time.

The 2009 movie 2012 further capitalized on the fear of the incoming apocalypse. Needless to say, when December 22 struck, the Mayans were either wrong or that the apocalypse would be at a later date.

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