Some of my All-time Favorite Apocalypses.

  "Where's the 'kaboom'? There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering 'Kaboom!'!" -Marvin the Martian, Looney Tunes.

  The "End of the World" has come and gone many many more times than I want to count, according to prophecies. Some people get upset at each one, but no one seems to believe them all. Then there's a part of us that wants to believe outwardly, because it's exciting and we get to see it. Inwardly, we know it's not happening. That's why people can live their daily lives when they think everything's coming to an end.

  Once in a while, mass hysteria becomes mass stupidity.

Y2k

  If you know me at all, even if you didn't then, you expected this on my list. The theory was that computer clocks had a two-digit year, and no room to go after 99. People (none of whom understood how electronics worked) further speculated that if the clock's calendar were off, the device would fail to even power up. They went FURTHER to put forth all types of scenarios: power grid goes off line, nuclear reactors shut down and fail, and planes fall out of the effing sky. 

  I can't even begin to overstate the absurdity of the scenarios. Anyone who has seen any kind of two-digit counter knows that the digits start over. Anyone who thinks about it should understand that the calendar is not even a part of the computer's power-up process. Electronics don't care what the date says. They don't compare to yesterday and say "Heeey... I'm not doing anything until you explain why we're starting over!" - That kind of technology is still years away.

  I happened to be in a job involving a lot of electronics and computer repair. I was the one customers were sent to to ask questions about y2k. There was an interesting thing: people were stockpiling food and water, and making sure their devices (including one who asked about her toaster) are Y2k compliant. That became the biggest selling point of VCR's, Vacuum cleaners, lightbulbs, you name it. Which begs the question: if you think the power grid is going to fail and civilization is ending, how do you use your Y2k compliant VCR?

  Interestingly enough, people "in the know" said computers year counters would reset to "00". This was a big warning flag. The truth was, a computer's CMOS(what has the calendar/clock) had default start dates of Jan-01-1980 or Jan-01-1984. The second still makes me smile. So orwellian.

  The date came and went, people in general pretended they didn't just participate in that lunacy, and pretended they were never worried.

The Jupiter Effect


   As a very young child, I remember hearing about a day when all nine planets were aligned. People I witnessed firsthand decided this would herald the start of a new age, hence the term "New Age" that's slapped on hippie stuff.

  Whenever there's an alignment of any sort, people get all fidgety. What does it mean? In reality, nothing. In people's heads, THE END OF THE WORLD.

  I'm glad it didn't end there. The date was March 10, 1982. I would have my seventh birthday and watch the premiere of "The Greatest American Hero" 8 days later on our family's 13" Black and White TV. Provided someone wanted to go outside and turn the antenna just so.


Hale-Bopp


  The first big one that really got a kick from the Internet. Again, March. The year:1997. A comet was visible to the naked eye (Hale-Bopp comet) for 18 months. That was kinda neat. Some amateur astronomer spotted a companion object in the comet's tail. People on the internet took some surreal twist of logic to conclude it was a spaceship, and Earth was to be obliterated. The Heaven's Gate cult committed mass suicide because they thought the spaceship would take them to paradise if they left their bodies behind.


Hometown Pride!
  This one is my favorite. The town I grew up in, Farmington, Maine, was to become the "New Jerusalem". God had apparently said no one within the town lines would ever get sick again, and all ills would be healed. So glad God respects local regulations.

The original prophecy sign rented out.

  This woman, who happens to be a Quaker, claims to channel Christ through her body. She says she sleeps, and Christ takes over, giving her a prophecy, even a novel.

  Her original date of 06-06-06 came and went. The sign changed:

No caption needed.

  I really like this one, though. It's the only "End Times" prophecy that is remotely hopeful, and if you read what the woman wrote, she seems very sincere. Of course, the town will always be special to me. MY hometown.



Honerable mention:
2012


  Honerable mention? Yep. There is no "Mayan Doomsday" prophecy. People were learning about the Mayan calendar, and posed a question as to why it ended on that date. Speculation from doomsday freaks or people writing books to get some quick cash decided to answer the question.

  Meanwhile, while people who actually did research realized the Mayan calendar counts backwards, and the date given is simply "New Year's Eve" by that calendar. It is also only one of five countdown calendars the Mayans used.