September 23, 2017
The Revelation 12 sign and September 23, 2017
Well documented Prediction was later revised End TimesDate SettingModern PredictionsFailed PredictionsInternet Era
Quick facts
- Predicted date
- September 23, 2017
- Who predicted it
- David Meade
- When announced
- 2017
- Reasoning
- Astronomy software was used to show the alignment. Astronomers noted that the arrangement is a matter of how constellations are drawn and that similar alignments recur.
- What happened
- September 23, 2017 passed without the events described. Meade later suggested other dates.
- Historical status
- Well documented. The prediction and its date appear in primary or reliable secondary sources.
- Outcome label
- Prediction was later revised
- Editorial certainty
- Medium: reliable secondary sources
- Editorial review
- Pending. This entry has not yet been checked line by line against its sources. Treat details as provisional.
Prediction
What did David Meade predict?
A planetary alignment on September 23, 2017 was linked by some authors to the "great wonder" of Revelation 12:1. Author David Meade said it would mark the start of catastrophic events. Astronomers and many Christian commentators rejected the claim.
Interpretation by the author
Why did they believe it?
On that date the constellation Virgo, with the sun appearing to clothe it and the moon beneath, matched in some respects the woman described in Revelation 12:1. Jupiter was in a position that was read as the child. Meade tied this to a series of other events.
Scripture as used by the author
Biblical basis cited
Revelation 12:1 to 2 ("a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet").
Method
How the date was calculated
Astronomy software was used to show the alignment. Astronomers noted that the arrangement is a matter of how constellations are drawn and that similar alignments recur.
Historical record
Historical context
The claim spread rapidly through social media and online video in September 2017. NASA and fact-checking outlets published responses. Meade stated that the world would not end on that date but that a period of catastrophic events would begin.
Historical record
What happened when the date passed?
September 23, 2017 passed without the events described. Meade later suggested other dates.
Historical record
What happened afterward
The episode is an example of the online circulation of date claims, with the same Revelation 12 sign being reused in later predictions.
Scripture
Passages cited
-
Revelation 12:1–2 (KJV)
"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:"
Excerpts are from the King James Version (public domain). Listing a verse here does not mean this site agrees with how the author used it.
Sources
Sources and further reading
- David Meade. Planet X: The 2017 Arrival. Self-published. 2017. Primary source
- NASA, Snopes and news outlets. Press and fact-check coverage, September 2017. 2017. Website Specific citations still need to be added and checked.
Found an error or a better source? Send a correction. See also the methodology.