Nibiru Cataclysm: More Experts Step Up To Debunk David Meade’s Latest Doomsday Prediction
Self-styled “Christian numerologist” David Meade has been in the news again in recent days, as he revised his doomsday prediction for the Nibiru cataclysm, telling the Daily Express that the “rogue planet” will appear in the sky on April 23, heralding the end of the world. While NASA has repeatedly gone on record to debunk the conspiracy theory, the U.S. space agency isn’t the only institution or individual willing to break down Meade’s statements and point out why the world won’t be ending on the date he specified, just as it didn’t on the days he had previously predicted.
According to Newsweek, the theory of the Nibiru cataclysm originated in 1995, from ZetaTalk website founder Nancy Lieder. Recent years, however, have seen David Meade as the leading Nibiru conspiracy theorist, having released a book last year titled Planet X — The 2017 Arrival and making several predictions of when the cataclysmic event will take place. Newsweek observed that Meade’s forecasts utilize “Biblical gymnastics,” which involve references to the Book of Revelation, which he then associates with planetary alignments and the purported arrival of Nibiru, a.k.a. Planet X.
Separately, the Washington Post pointed out that Meade’s Nibiru cataclysm predictions have regularly been pushed by a number of U.K. tabloids, many of which supposedly make use of sensationalist copy to suggest that the world might be ending soon. Citing Meade, these publications’ reports often hint at various types of natural disasters, war, and other fantastical events that are supposed to take place when Planet X appears int he sky. But with Meade’s latest forecast hinting that the world will end later this month, a number of experts issued statements to reassure readers that the apocalypse is not coming in about a week or so.
In an interview with Newsweek, University College London astronomy professor Ian Howarth said that David Meade’s Nibiru cataclysm prediction isn’t scientifically accurate, as a planet like Nibiru would “throw all the other planetary orbits out,” assuming it was actually heading toward our planet. He explained that there might be some planets in our solar system that have yet to be discovered, but added that none of them are expected to cross our planet’s path.
“Various other ‘Planet X’ hypotheses have pretty much the same basis —unexpected orbital characteristics of known planets.”
No, the Rapture Isn't Coming on April 23 Because of Nibiru (Which Doesn't Exist) https://t.co/G3qcikssiL pic.twitter.com/1ERFl2xttb
— SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) April 12, 2018
While Howarth used scientific facts to debunk the Nibiru cataclysm theory, Live Science pointed out a few interesting details about David Meade’s recent prediction, noting that the date of April 23 was previously brought up by William Miller, the 19th-century Baptist preacher whom the publication described as “one of the most famous failed apocalypse predictors of all time.” Although he was most notorious for his prediction that Jesus Christ would appear on October 22, 1844, to herald the end of the world, Miller also gave out the date of April 23, 1843, in one of his many failed doomsday predictions.
Speaking to Live Science, St. Joseph’s University ancient and comparative religion professor Allen Kerkeslager offered his own two cents on the Nibiru cataclysm and why Meade’s new prediction won’t ring true, saying that the author of the Book of Revelation, which Meade has used as a basis for his forecasts, was “wrong in his predictions,” and is therefore not “of much relevance” as a tool for predicting the end of the world.
