The 2024 Legal Defense Fundraiser has ended early due to the Board's decision to settle the suit. Donations will go towards the creation of a legal defense fund. Discussion on the matter can be found at the RationalMedia Foundation noticeboard. Thank you for your generous support.
Baba Vanga
Putting the psycho in Parapsychology |
![]() |
Men who stare at goats |
By the powers of tinfoil |
Vangeliya Pandeva Dimitrova (1911—1996; Bulgarian: Вангелия Пандева Димитрова), also known as Baba Vanga (баба Ванга), was a supposed clairvoyant who was best known for making predictions about world events and the future. There is a lack of evidence that she made many of the claims attributed to her, and they are so vague that they can be shoehorned to fit nearly any set of events.[1]
Veracity
It's difficult to determine the origin of her predictions, where Vanga made them, or even if she made them at all.[1][2][3] Written records of what she said are difficult to find.[4] Since Vanga was either illiterate or semi-literate and did not write any books herself, staff members financed by the Bulgarian government captured what she allegedly said.[4] Vanga's supposed predictions found on blogs and message boards lack citations for where the predictions came from.[1] Fake predictions credited to Vanga have appeared in tabloid media[4] and likely originated on conspiracy websites and Russian social media.[1]
Many of the people close to her have said she never made some of the prophecies attributed to her on the internet.[5] Bulgarian newspaper 24 Chasa interviewed Vanga's long-term neighbors and friends in the town of Petrich.[3] They said she never made any predictions about a war, the end of the world, the 9/11 attacks, the sinking of Kursk, and the election of a black president of the US.[3] These uncorroborated predictions only began appearing after her death[3] (and after the events they supposedly predicted). Unsurprisingly, one neighbor believes that these fake predictions were attributed to Vanga after her death because Vanga can no longer deny that she made them.[3]
Predictions
She has attracted a following in Russia.[2] According to the Baba Vanga folklore, her big breakthrough in the country came after a Russian nuclear submarine Kursk sank in 2000, claiming the lives of 118 sailors and allegedly fulfilling one of Vanga's prophecies.[2] Since then, Baba Vanga supporters in Russia have found "proof" that she foretold other world events such as the 9/11 attacks.[2] She supposedly predicted the rise of the Islamic State, Princess Diana's death, global warming, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the Chernobyl disaster, Brexit, and Barack Obama's presidency.[6][7][8][9]
Sources have claimed she predicted that Earth will die in 3797[10] and the universe will end in 5079.[11] However, Vanga's own neighbors and friends deny she ever made such predictions.[3] Shortly before her death, she allegedly said a ten-year-old blind girl living in France would inherit her gift.[5]
Some of her inaccurate predictions include, but are not limited to, the following:
- According to conspiracy websites, she foretold a nuclear world war from 2010 to 2014.[1][2][3][11][12] Obviously, that didn't happen.[note 1]
- The 1994 FIFA World Cup final would be played between two teams beginning with the letter B (the actual final was between Brazil and Italy).[1][13][14]
- She failed to predict that Bulgaria's royal family and the ruling Communist elite of Eastern Europe would both be deposed, even though she was a consultant to both.[1][13]
- According to The Sun, she said that Europe would cease to exist by the end of 2016. Vanga's fans claim that she was referring to Brexit.[6] This is false either way, since both Europe and the European Union did not cease to exist by the end of 2016.
Another disproven prediction attributed to her is that the 44th US president (Barack Obama) would be the country's last commander-in-chief.[5][7][12] After Trump's inauguration in 2017 debunked this prediction, Vanga's supporters pulled a new prediction straight out of their ass, claiming that the 45th president will be a "messianic personality" who will be faced with a crisis that will "bring the country down".[14][15][16]
See also
External links
- See the Wikipedia article on Baba Vanga.
- За Фондация „Ванга“ — Vanga Foundation (In Bulgarian)
- Debunked: Baba Vanga from the Balkans predicted xyz, e.g. that President Obama would be the last US president
Notes
- ↑ Since her prediction was false, Vanga's supporters claim she actually foretold the Arab Spring. [1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Downing, Sam. No, a blind Bulgarian psychic didn't predict Muslim extremists will start WWIII in 2016 Nine.com.au. December 9, 2015.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Fisher, Max. Fair warning: Bulgarian prophet predicted Obama would be last U.S. president Washington Post, November 8, 2012
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Maskruchka, Antoaneta. Baba Vanga has not predicted the end of the world 24 Chasa. July 17, 2010.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Mendham, Tim. Dead seer's predictions promoted in news online Australian Skeptics. December 8, 2015.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Osborne, Samuel. Baba Vanga: Who is the blind mystic who 'predicted the rise of Isis'? The Independent. December 8, 2015.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Roberts, Sophie. Did the blind mystic who predicted 9/11 also predict Brexit… and suggest a WAR in Europe would follow? The Sun UK. June 27, 2016.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Pascaline, Mary. Will Trump Be President? 'Nostradamus From The Balkans' Baba Vanga Said Obama Will Be Last US Chief International Business Times. December 30, 2016.
- ↑ Baba Vanga ‘Obama last US president’ prediction: What does it mean? News.com.au. November 10, 2016.
- ↑ Crabb, Kara. Baba Vanga’s Predictions of “Natural Disasters” Vice. June 29, 2012.
- ↑ Nuclear war will ignite in May 2017, mystic Horacio Villegas says News.com.au. April 21, 2017.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Barrell, Ryan Blind Bulgarian Mystic Baba Vanga, Who ‘Predicted’ The Rise Of Isis, Says They’ll Invade Europe In 2016 HuffPost. January 1, 2016.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Mack, Eric. 7 Dumb Predictions For 2016 That Didn't Happen Forbes. December 31, 2016.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Kinder, Stephen. Rupite Journal; For a Revered Mystic, a Shrine Now of Her Own New York Times. April 5, 1995.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Donovan, Francesca. Blind Mystic Baba Vanga Made Scary WW3 Prediction UNILAD. April 20, 2017.
- ↑ Willis, Amy. Baba Vanga was right about Trump. But will the 45th president be ‘peacemaker’? Metro UK. January 20, 2017.
- ↑ Dawson, James. Psychic Baba Vanga Had Some Pretty Grim Stuff To Say About World War III LADbible. April 21, 2017.