In 2017, a conspiracy theorist and self-proclaimed "Christian numerologist" named David Meade revived the Nibiru cataclysm by tying it to various passages from the Bible.[34] Meade declared that these passages contained secret numerological codes, which revealed the exact date on which Nibiru would arrive.[33] He also based his predictions on the geometry of the Giza Pyramids.[32] Meade initially predicted that Nibiru would arrive in October 2017,[34] but he later revised the date back to 23 September.[35][36] The specific focus of his prediction revolved around the Woman of the Apocalypsereferring to a supposedly unique configuration on that date of the Sun, Moon, and planets in Virgo.[36] He cited the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 as a harbinger.[37][38][39]
Meade's claims received extensive media attention.[37][38][39] Viral fake news stories circulated across the Internet, adducing non-existent confirmations by NASA of Nibiru's existence on a course "headed straight for Earth".[40][8][41] In reality, NASA's position is, and always has been, that Nibiru does not exist.[40][8][41][42][43][44][45] Meade also faced criticism from fellow Christians; Ed Stetzer, writing for Christianity Today, stated that "there is no such thing as a 'Christian numerologist'",[46] and described Meade as "a made-up expert in a made-up field talking about a made-up event."[46] Christopher M. Graney, a professor with the Vatican Observatory Foundation, noted that the supposedly unique event was, in fact, quite common, having occurred four times in the last millennium.[36] His September 23rd theories were also debunked by Time writer Jeff Kluger.[47] Brazilian astronomer Duília de Mello called his predictions and theories rubbish, and also said Nibiru would have been seen during the eclipse and that Meade was using calculations based on the Gregorian calendar.[48]
After his predictions failed to come true, Meade revised them and declared that Nibiru would arrive on 5 October 2017, not on 23 September.[49][50] Meade announced that, on 5 October, Nibiru would eclipse the sun, and North Korea, China, and Russia would launch a combined nuclear attack on the United States.[50] Then, the earth would be devastated by a series of magnitude 9.8 earthquakes, the earth's magnetic pole would shift by 30 degrees, the United States would be split in half, and Barack Obama would be elected president for an unconstitutional third term.[51] He predicted that the seven-year Great Tribulation would begin on 15 October.[52]
When October came, another apocalyptic writer, Terral Croft, predicted the arrival of Nibiru for November 19; a prediction again reported in the British tabloid press. Croft describes Nibiru as a "black star" at the edge of our Solar System, which, rather than colliding with Earth, would form an apocalyptic conjunction with Earth, leading to massive earthquakes. Croft claimed that earthquakes have been increasing worldwide in the leadup to the conjunction, though The Washington Post, quoting the United States Geological Survey, was quick to point out that earthquakes had decreased in both power and frequency over the year.[53] Paul Begley, a YouTube conspiracy theorist and pastor at the Community Gospel Baptist Church in Knox, Indiana, also predicted in one of his YouTube videos that Nibiru would appear in 2017 and declared that the solar eclipse was a sign of the apocalypse and the rogue planet.[54] Around 12 April 2018, Meade cited an alleged 23 April astrological conjunction in Virgo and predicted that Nibiru would appear during the conjunction and presage the Rapture; Space.comneedled that nothing resembling such a conjunction is actually forecast for 23 April.[55]
Are we fighting something much bigger?