Tomorrow we might be reading this paper by candlelight, while eating canned food and sheltering from a comet that may smash into Earth.

More of us will become clairvoyants and there will be more UFO sightings

Fears that the end is nigh have been running wild since someone figured out that December 21, 2012, is when the 5,125-year long Mayan calendar ends and interpreted that as the Earth’s extinction day.

Since then several doomsday theories have been bandied about, with blockbuster help from Hollywood.

This is how it is supposed to happen: the Earth will be blasted into nothing by a solar storm, a comet crash or the collision of a mythical planet called Nibiru.

Amateur astronomer David Pace scoffs at these possibilities: “It’s not really possible for an entire planet as big as Earth to be destroyed in such a tight time-frame.

“We have the technology to detect such near-Earth asteroids before they hit and can even mount limited expeditions to deflect them.”

The most plausible scenario is an asteroid or large meteorite impact, but such impacts have happened in the past without destroying the world, he said. For example, 65 million years ago dinosaurs were made extinct. But the Earth survived.

He dismissed the possibility of planetary impact: “A large planet entering the solar system like the mythological Nibiru would be seen by millions of amateur and professional astronomers far out beyond the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, and would take years to reach us.”

Armed with his two telescopes, Mr Pace has been searching the sky for planet Nibiru.

“There isn’t anything except the usual stars found in those coordinates,” he said.

“The only way the Earth can really disappear is by falling into a black hole, but “the nearest one is thousands of light years away”.

For Mr Pace, December 21 means nothing but the start of winter and he will be celebrating by eating mince pies and drinking punch.

But not everyone is so sceptical. Geraldine Fenech, a meditation instructor, believes that Friday will be the start of a new era.

“The things that were not built on the right frequency will collapse,” she said.

“This is going to be an evolutionary leap, like the shift from Homo habilis to Homo erectus.”

She attributed this to the fact that the whole solar system will line up with the centre of the galaxy, which will release photonic energy that Earth will benefit from for the next 200 years.

December 21, she believes, will help bring in this huge blast of energy.

“And my goodness, the rewards will be great! We’ll see a more peaceful planet as of Friday. We can look forward to better times,” she said.

There is more. Love in our hearts will reign as people will become more aware of their spiritual nature, she said. This will also result in more of us becoming clairvoyants and there will be more UFO sightings.

“It will be sunny, ” said Ms Fenech, who recommended spending tomorrow somewhere close to nature. She will be meeting friends for a meditation session in Għajn Tuffieħa.

“Over 10 million people will be meditating at the same time around the world so we’ll all bring hearts and minds together,” she said.

There is also the possibility that the infectious ‘Gangnam Style’ song could bring about the Earth’s disintegration.

Making the rounds online is Nostradamus’s apocalyptic prediction: “From the calm morning, the end will come/ When of the dancing horse/ the number of circles will be nine.”

Nostradamus, a 15th century seer, is believed to have predicted historic milestones such as the French Revolution, defeat of Hitler and 9/11 terrorist attack at New York in 2001.

According to various interpreters, the quote refers to South Korea’s hit singer Psy and is even backed up by evidence: Korea is known as the ‘Land of the Morning Calm’; the Gangnam dance routine flaunts horse-riding; and the number of ‘circles’ may refer to the song’s one billion views on You Tube.

Psychological anxiety

Beyond the hype, there are people in Malta who are seriously concerned that tomorrow will be doomsday, according to Anton Grech, head of psychiatry at Mount Carmel Hospital.

“Unfortunately there are a number of people who are very scared that it will be the end of the world. These are generally very vulnerable people,” he said.

Those most likely to be affected suffer from Generalised Anxiety Disorder, whose anxiety will increase dramatically with each potential danger, even if it seems unrealistic. Moreover, for those who suffer from obsessive thoughts this deadline will became an uncontrollable fixation.

“Initially I try to turn it into a joke, which is what in my opinion it truly is. But in people with a fragile mental state this is definitely not reassuring enough.

“So if there are clear signs and symptoms of psychopathology I help them by means of standard treatment for anxiety disorders and obsessions,” he said.

“People are consciously or unconsciously worried and concerned about the end of their life and what will happen after. So any news about their potential death such as an end of the world event will further trigger these thoughts.”

He looks forward to tomorrow as his clients should be relieved of some suffering.

Missed doomsdays

Over the past 2,000 years there have been at least 200 confident, date-specific prophecies, and they have all been wrong:

2011: According to American radio evangelist Harold Camping, May 21 was the day when all the Bible’s end-time prophecies would be fulfilled. The date was blatantly advertised on sides of buses in America, billboards in the Middle East, and leaflets were handed out in dozens of countries from Mexico to Cambodia.

1954: UFO cult the Seekers gathered at the home of their founder on December 21, 1954, from where aliens were expected to take them to safety before disaster struck. When no one knocked on the door it was believed that destruction had been postponed thanks to the loyal believers’ prayers.

1844: Some followers of William Miller sat on top of their homes on October 22, so that when they were lifted heavenwards they would not crack their heads on the ceiling. Others watched for the dawn on mountain-tops expecting Christ to appear in his glory with the rising sun.

1761: Londoners who heeded William Bell’s apocalyptic warnings on April 5 took to the Thames in boats, reasoning that if the end came as a great flood, they at least would stay afloat.

1186: A certain John of Toledo warned that the apocalypse was heading the world’s way on September 23, 1186. The warning so alarmed the Byzantine emperor that he boarded himself into his palace on the appointed day.

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