# Fake Nostradamus predictions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2001, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-nostradamus-predictions/93393 "2001-11-14T21:51:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-nostradamus-predictions/93393/21 "2001-11-15T15:28:49Z")
Oh, come on people! There’s nothing wrong with our pal **G. Nome**. She just expresses herself a little differently than many of us. **Nome** , babe, I’m going to offer a “gloss” of what you’ve said, and if you disagree with it just let us know. [ul] [li]We know the Nostradamus e-mail is bullshit.[/li] [li]We know that _part_ of the e-mail comes from a 1997 web page authored by one Neil Marshall. Marshall was writing an example of how one could bullshit around with Nostradamus-like predictions.[/li] [li]Some damned fool found the bullshit Marshall prediction, confused it with an _actual_ Nostradamus prediction, and unleashed it upon the ignorant masses.[/li] [li]_Then_, someone else heaped still more bullshit on top of the bullshit, apparently to make it more relevant to the events of September 11.[/li] [li]_But_, we’re not entirely sure _when_ the final, “crashing metal birds” bit was added to this long-circulating ball of misinformation.[/li] [li]_Is it possible that this bullshit was tacked on **before** the events of September 11th?_ In other words, could this e-mail have landed on the desktop of some low-level al-Qaeda bureaucrat in the Office of Meteorite Worship and Baby Killing, who in turn also believed it to be an _actual_ Nostradamus prediction, and who thought it might be a bright idea to “actualize” the prophecy, striking fear into the hearts of other hopelessly ignorant Westerners everywhere?[/li][/ul] In other words, did the e-mail play a role in the overall planning and strategy of al-Qaeda’s attack? This is not a silly question. We know that Joseph Goebbels had a certain infatuation with Nostradamus, and attempted to draw parallels between Nostradamus’ predictions and Hitler, _while Hitler was in power_. **G. Nome** is simply wondering if it’s possible that something similar happened in this case, and was taken one step farther to the “realization of prophecy” stage. How’d I do, **Nome**? ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-nostradamus-predictions/93393/22 "2001-11-15T16:03:30Z")
And I’m _pissed_ that nobody got my Arabian Nights joke. **G. Nome** , you and me have to stick together. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-nostradamus-predictions/93393/23 "2001-11-15T17:22:42Z")
Sofa King - it may not be a silly question (though we could debate that in IMHO), but it still seems very unlikely to me that people from Al-Qaeda would choose to enact the predictions of a european rather than an arab seer. P.S. You forgot one portion of G. Nome’s thesis: “Some muslims would be open-minded enough to have read Nostradamus - proof: someone from Afghanistan once tried to have sex with me.” ---
**Author:** ![G.Nome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c89c15/32.png) [@G.Nome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.Nome)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-nostradamus-predictions/93393/24 "2001-11-15T22:43:39Z")
Hey, this is a whole new day for you guys. Different song, different stanza. Forget Nostradamus guys, remember Bob! Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl and all that. What you have to choose, Arnold Winkelreid, is whether you want the rest of the world to buy popcorn and pizza or start knitting peggy squares and bandages. Sofa King: That was great. Although I discount almost all paranormal phenomena I remain intrigued by coicidence or synchonicity. I’ve read what Skeptics have to say about it, of course, but that does nothing to change the fact that I am able to summon a policeman by removing my cycle helmet. Every time. That way of thinking made me more open to the idea that the stanza with the date existed prior to the WTC bombing. Snopes’ article is very vague on that point too. When the wind begins to howl you should come here for a holiday, Sofa King (and bring A. Winkelreid’s toys - he won’t want them). ---
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-nostradamus-predictions/93393/25 "2001-11-16T01:35:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by G. Nome \* > **(and bring A. Winkelreid’s toys - he won’t want them)** Is that an insult of a moderator in GQ? I can’t quite tell, but it looks that way to me. I think you removed your bicycle helmet once or twice too often, my friend. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-nostradamus-predictions/93393/26 "2001-11-16T02:23:00Z")
Kamandi, I think it was supposed to be a compliment. _When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things._ ---
**Author:** ![G.Nome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c89c15/32.png) [@G.Nome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.Nome)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-nostradamus-predictions/93393/27 "2001-11-16T07:44:29Z")
I’ll never say popcorn. I don’t know why, I just never will. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-nostradamus-predictions/93393.md?page=1)