Whether or not predictions the world will end soon come true, one thing is for certain: The man behind the latest doomsday theory is having his 15 minutes of fame. In the past week, David Meade's name has appeared in newspapers around the world — and this website! — because he is prophesying a period of tribulation that could end in, well, the end.
But what do we know about the doomsayer?
To start, Meade told Newsweek he doesn't think the world will end this weekend, as some outlets are reporting. He just believes that a celestial event, called the Revelation 12:1-2 Sign, will take place over Jerusalem on Saturday. That, he says, could kick off a seven-year stretch of trouble.
"The Rapture is at an unknown date. Nothing's going to happen Saturday," Meade said in an email. "[The sign is] a time marker that points forward. It's a cryptographic key. It doesn't mean anything will happen that day, of course."
Meade is a guest writer for Planet X News, a website full of content about Nibiru, an alleged planet that rapture forecasters say will soon crash into the Earth—or, at the very least, pass by and cause extreme weather events like solar flares. When that happens, Meade says he's planning "strategic relocation" to Arizona or the Ozark Mountains.
NASA has flatly denied that there's any truth to the theory, writing that "the planet in question, Niburu, doesn't exist, so there will be no collision." However, Catholic-raised Meade is relying on his faith. For example, he told the Washington Post "the world as we know it" may be start changing Saturday because it falls 33 days after the total solar eclipse.
"Jesus lived for 33 years. The name Elohim, which is the name of God to the Jews, was mentioned 33 times [in the Bible]," he said. "It's a very biblically significant, numerologically significant number. I'm talking astronomy. I'm talking the Bible … and merging the two."
It's unclear where Meade's astronomical expertise comes from. His Planet X News profile says that he graduated from the University of Louisville in Kentucky and afterward "worked in forensic investigations for a number of years." Meade adds that he spent a decade "writing special reports for management" and penning several books, including The Coup D'état Against President Donald J. Trump and Planet X – The 2017 Arrival.
He did not respond to a question from Newsweek about where he lives now.
Other, occasionally contradictory, details about Meade can be found various places online. A YouTube profile in his name has 11 videos, among them "Own a Piece of Paradise in the Florida Keys" and "DONALD TRUMP AND THE RAPTURE." The account is linked to a Google+ page where Meade describes himself as "an investigative journalist" and notes that he uses a pen name.
But in a lengthy post on his personal site, writers-web-services.com, Meade calls out young people for being "dumbed down by TV, commercials, sports and so forth." He's also not a fan of the media, which he claims has distorted his theory.
"As Donald Trump would say, this is 'fake news' they write about me," he tells Newsweek. "Nothing you can do about it really. Just stay a cool customer."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Julia Glum joined IBT Media in October 2014 as a breaking news reporter specializing in youth affairs.
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
