Radio Host Says Solar Eclipse, North Korea Problems Mark the Apocalypse

A U.S. radio host broadcast from Indiana has told his listeners that Monday's solar eclipse and the problems involving the U.S. and North Korea are predictors of the apocalypse.

Paul Begley said during his radio show, Coming Apocalypse, that the "black moon" suggested "we are living in the last days."

The conspiracy theorist, who has predicted the end of days on previous occasions, quoted a biblical passage that says, "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come."

He said, "It happened in the plagues of Egypt. In one of the plagues, the sun went dark for three days."

Eclipses have been viewed as predictors of doom going back to ancient cultures.

"The majority of people didn't really understand what eclipses or shooting stars were until at least the 17th century," Edwin Krupp, the director of the Griffith Observatory in California, told the BBC.

Even though the science behind the eclipse has now been explained, various evangelical groups in the U.S. view Monday's eclipse as a link to something biblical.

During his show, Begley also cited a verse that he said suggested the deteriorating relations between the U.S. and North Korea were among the signs that suggested the last days were upon us.

"The Bible is true, and the current events that are happening before your very eyes were prophesized to happen in your Bible," he said. "I want you to know, you're living in the last days," he added.

Meanwhile, even though he is predicting that the solar eclipse marks the beginning of the end, Begley is hosting an event in 68 days, on October 28, when his fans can join him in Indiana for a discussion on how the Bible shapes world events.