Doomsday fears eased with arks and aliens

The end of the world is just weeks away, if you believe interpretations of Mayan prophecies, and one man knows how he is going to survive it: In a giant boat.

Lu Zhenghai, a man in China, has spent a million renmimbi (€122,000) to build a boat that will measure 20m long and weigh about 80 tons once it’s finished.

Worried that a giant flood would be part of the apocalypse on Dec 21, Lu started building the ark in 2010. The project isn’t quite finished and, if the world doesn’t come to an end in December, Lu hopes the ark will attract tourists or find a second life as a ferry.

Of course, Lu isn’t the first to prepare for the world’s end.

A group of apocalypse apologists have taken refuge in Bugarach, a mountain village in southern France.

Since 2000, “esoterics” (what locals call the new residents) have been settling in the area, citing its tranquility and remoteness. Many of these newcomers believe the Mayan apocalypse is not necessarily an end to the physical world as we know it, but a spiritual transformation that will start a new era in history.

Some of the more out-there newcomers to Bugarach believe aliens live in the mountain below the town and will take them away on Dec 21.

Whatever the beliefs, innkeepers have been getting even more requests for rooms this month, and some are worried that the town will be overrun with these Doomsday preppers.

French authorities insist the scenario is ridiculous, but are taking the situation seriously.

Mayor Jean-Pierre Lord says over a hundred police officers are to seal off the village from Dec 19-23 to keep out Doomsday groups.

“My message is very simple,” said Lord. “I am telling people don’t come to Bugarach for a simple reason — there will be nothing to see here. So I insist, don’t come here, especially as there will mainly be the police here.”

In the nearby ancient town of Carcassonne, officials are planning for every eventuality.

“Taking into account the huge media interest this affair has created, we have to take into account all security concerns and be prepared for all outcomes whether there are 300 people or 3,000,” said security chief Eric Freysselinard.

In Russia, a Doomsday survival kit costs just 850 roubles (€21) — cheaper than an ark or a trip to France.

The macabre kit contains just a few staples: A packet of buckwheat, a can of fish, candles, matches, notepad, pencil, medicine, vodka, board game instructions, and a rope, in case things get really bad.

The kit was started as joke, but more than 1,000 have since been sold.

Across Britain, people are already preparing for Doomsday, burying equipment in the ground in advance of the apocalypse — and even teaching themselves to enjoy the taste of squirrel.

Sci-fi author Edward O’Toole is so convinced disaster is coming that he has moved to Slovakia to prepare for the end.

“I think there will be a new Dark Age and I want my children to have a good chance of survival,” said O’Toole.

Why now?

The ancient Mayans were skilled astronomers who were able to accurately predict the movements of the galaxy for centuries in advance of their time. According to their calendar, a detailed list of astronomical events that occurs over 13 cycles of 144,000 days, December 21, 2012, marks the end of the 13th and final “B’ak’tun,” or cycle.

Many blogs and forums describe various ways this date will bring an end of civilisation, including a polar planetary shift and an increase of Earth’s gravity in the Kuiper Belt, that would attract more comets and asteroids to hit the planet.