Failed end-times predictions, 1990–1994

A near-term rapture forecast

Peter Ruckman was reported to have concluded from his biblical chronology that the rapture would occur within a few years of 1990. The proposed interval passed without that event.

Branch Davidian expectations

David Koresh led the Students of the Seven Seals, commonly known as the Branch Davidians, near Waco, Texas. The group reportedly expected a decisive end-times confrontation and calculated 1995 as a significant year.

The community became the subject of a federal siege in 1993. The standoff ended in a fire and many deaths. Responsibility and the sequence of events have remained subjects of extensive investigation and dispute.

Church Universal and Triumphant

Statements by Elizabeth Clare Prophet were understood by many adherents as indicating a possible nuclear conflict. Followers traveled to Montana and prepared shelters; some reportedly made major employment and financial decisions. The anticipated war did not begin. Representatives later characterized the preparations as a drill.

A verse attributed to Mother Shipton

A widely circulated verse attributed to the sixteenth-century English seer Mother Shipton assigned the world's end to 1991. The attribution itself has long been questioned, and the prediction did not occur.

Messages reported by C. M. Edwards

C. M. Edwards published messages presented as divine communications. Reports from mid-1991 forecast severe judgment in the United States, including devastation in the Midwest and signs of an imminent coming before the year's close. Those outcomes did not take place as forecast.

Lee Jang Rim's rapture date

Korean Christian pastor Lee Jang Rim taught that the rapture would occur on this date. The appointed time passed without the predicted event. Contemporary accounts also described serious harm and distress among some followers; details vary across reports.

Benny Hinn's forecast

Benny Hinn, then associated with the Assemblies of God, was reported to have predicted the rapture for 1993. Reports also attributed to him a hostile prediction targeting gay people by 1995. Neither forecast occurred. For broader context, see the archive's overview of sexual orientation and religion.

A Ukrainian millennial movement

A millennial new religious movement in Ukraine predicted a world-ending event during November 1993. The month passed without the predicted conclusion.

A fictional asteroid report

A sensational newspaper claimed that an object designated M-167 would strike Earth and possibly end life. The report was not credible: Charles Messier's astronomical catalogue ends at M110, so no catalogue entry named M-167 exists.

Advice attributed to Rulon Jeffs

Rulon Jeffs, a spokesperson for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was reported to have discouraged graduates from attending college because the world would end before they finished. The predicted deadline did not arrive during their expected period of study.

Messages associated with Conyers, Georgia

Visitors gathered at a prayer site connected with Nancy Fowler, who reported appearances of Jesus and Mary. A 1994 message warned in general terms of expanding wars, earthquakes, famine and other disasters, but supplied no clear deadline by which the claims could be evaluated as a single dated prediction.

Jehovah's Witness chronology

Some commentators treated 1994 as a major unofficial date derived from Jehovah's Witness chronology. It was not an official prediction comparable to a formally announced deadline. See the archive's background on the calculation.

Harold Camping's date range

Family Radio broadcaster Harold Camping proposed that the end would occur during this September interval. His calculation combined biblical passages with a chronology that placed Jesus' birth in 7 BCE. The interval ended without the predicted event.