Man puts life savings on the world to end tomorrow

YOU might be in a pub, you might be gone to bed. But the world is set to end at 11pm Irish time tomorrow, just to let you know.

That’s according to Staten Island resident Robert Fitzpatrick. So convinced he is of a great earthquake, he has spent his entire life savings of $140,000 (€98,000) trying to warn people worldwide to get ready for the end of the world.

He spent the money on 1,000 subway-car placards, and even more ads on bus kiosks which state: “Global Earthquake: The Greatest Ever! Judgment Day May 21, 2011.”

In a self-published book, The Doomsday Code, Fitzpatrick says the Bible offers “proof that cannot be dismissed”.

“Judgment Day will surprise people. We will not be ready for it,” he said.

Tomorrow evening, buildings and bridges will collapse, dams will burst and flames will consume the planet. he claimed.

“Industrial wastes will be released, radioactive wastes will be released, it’s going to be hell on Earth,” he said.

All over New York, preachers armed with T-shirts, brochures, books and posters are preaching the end of the world, using a complex numerical calculation from the Bible.

The date of May 21, 2011, may seem random, but it is based on a numerical analysis by Harold Camping, the president of Family Radio, a religious broadcaster based in California (who also predicted the world would end on September 6, 1994).

“According to Genesis, when the flood occurred in the year 4990, God told Noah that in seven days he would destroy the earth,” one preacher, Manny, explained. “And he destroyed it in seven days.

“But Peter said: ‘I know that one day for me is like a thousand years.’ So 4990 plus 7001 years (the equivalent of seven days) equals 2011,” he said.

Not only that, May 21 coincides with the 17th day of the second month of the calendar used during the Biblical flood, according to Camping.

“According to the Bible, in the Book of Revelations there will be a worldwide earthquake,” Manny said.

“We’re not sure if it will happen at the same time everywhere, because times are different. But it is supposed to happen simultaneously around the world,” the 56-year old from the Dominican Republic said.

Despite his faith, Manny realises that their message is often ridiculed.

“People do not believe it,” he said. “It is typical of what happened in Noah’s time, where only eight people were saved. According to the Bible, only 200 million people will be saved” this time.

Fitzpatrick said as God begins destroying the planet, true believers like him will be sucked up into Heaven. Everyone else, he believes, will die.