# What is this "Operation: Ring Of Fire" nonsense really about? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 30, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117 "2013-04-30T16:17:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/1 "2013-04-30T16:17:35Z")
Facebook acquaintance posts that one should Google [Operation: Ring Of Fire](http://bit.ly/18aqZwQ). Upon doing so, I come upon “About 3,020 results,” every single one of which is from a conspiracy theory wackadoo website screaming something about how Obama signed it and it has something to do with **MARTIAL LAW!** and **NUKES!** (caps, bolding and exclamation points for emphasis from the sources). I am of the opinion that conspiracy theorists are nutbags and I am dubious to the credibility the likes of [americanholocaustcoming.blogspot.com](http://americanholocaustcoming.blogspot.com) and [BeforeItsNews.com](http://BeforeItsNews.com) have as legitimate sources for information. That said, I would still love to know the Straight Dope© behind this. In theory this could be a General Question but I think most here would agree that Great Debates is the better containment unit for such a question. If a moderator is not among those who agree, by all means feel free to move it, with my apologies. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/2 "2013-04-30T19:10:05Z")
Well, of course it’s nuts…it’s a CT after all. 😛 Near as I can tell, Obama is supposed to have signed some executive order to use nukes to (covertly of course) change weather patterns and set off volcanoes and earth quakes too…well, who knows? Take over the world, make the US safe for socialism, simply because Obama is the Anti-Christ…take your pick or select some other explanation from the whacky side of life. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/3 "2013-04-30T19:43:26Z")
I dunno about the thing, but the theory (under that particular name, “Operation: Ring of Fire”) goes back [at least to 2002.](http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?read=25350) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/4 "2013-04-30T19:47:23Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Near as I can tell, Obama is supposed to have signed some executive order to use nukes to (covertly of course) change weather patterns and set off volcanoes and earth quakes too…well, who knows? Take over the world, make the US safe for socialism, simply because Obama is the Anti-Christ…take your pick or select some other explanation from the whacky side of life. Or perhaps he was just bound by wild desire. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/5 "2013-04-30T19:52:10Z")
I hope it doesn’t go wild ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/6 "2013-04-30T20:34:30Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Or perhaps he was just bound by wild desire. Of course he was. He is, after all, the Man Who’s Black. ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/7 "2013-04-30T21:51:34Z")
I thought it was somehow related to covertly consuming really spicy foods, I doubt we’ll ever know for sure though. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/8 "2013-05-01T13:32:24Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > Facebook acquaintance posts that one should Google [Operation: Ring Of Fire](http://bit.ly/18aqZwQ). Upon doing so, I come upon “About 3,020 results,” every single one of which is from a conspiracy theory wackadoo website screaming something about how Obama signed it and it has something to do with **MARTIAL LAW!** and **NUKES!** (caps, bolding and exclamation points for emphasis from the sources). > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I dunno about the thing, but the theory (under that particular name, “Operation: Ring of Fire”) goes back [at least to 2002.](http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?read=25350) What’s really amusing is that both the [first Google hit](http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2013/04/seals-admits-obama-signed-exec-order-for-nukes-and-martial-law-2632144.html) and BG’s link stem from the same source, one Pamela Shuffert. Apparently, she’s been predicting a New World Order invasion for [18 years](http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2012/07/15/her-prophecies-fail-but-pamela-rae-schuffert-keeps-it-coming/). The whole thing is pretty tied up in the Christian Patriot and militia movements. File with _The Protocols of the Elders of Zion_. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/9 "2013-05-01T20:20:55Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > What’s really amusing is that both the [first Google hit](http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2013/04/seals-admits-obama-signed-exec-order-for-nukes-and-martial-law-2632144.html) and BG’s link stem from the same source, one Pamela Shuffert. Apparently, she’s been predicting a New World Order invasion for [18 years](http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2012/07/15/her-prophecies-fail-but-pamela-rae-schuffert-keeps-it-coming/). > > The whole thing is pretty tied up in the Christian Patriot and militia movements. File with _The Protocols of the Elders of Zion_. Yea, its sort of bizarre how long-lived basically the same conspiracy theory has been. Hitler got the actual Holocaust holocaust going in a couple years, while at the same time invading every German-adjacent country. And yet, Clinton-Bush-Obama have apparently been preparing to round up the citizenry into FEMA camps and start mass executions since I was in grade school, and yet they still haven’t gotten their shit together. How many guillotines and gas-chambers to the really need? Also, if I was in charge of naming the top-secret plan to establish American death camps, I’d codename it something like Operation HappyPrincesses or something, instead of “Ring of Fire”. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/10 "2013-05-01T20:31:40Z")
Operation Chuck E. Cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/11 "2013-05-01T20:41:43Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Yea, its sort of bizarre how long-lived basically the same conspiracy theory has been. Hitler got the actual Holocaust holocaust going in a couple years, while at the same time invading every German-adjacent country. And yet, Clinton-Bush-Obama have apparently been preparing to round up the citizenry into FEMA camps and start mass executions since I was in grade school, and yet they still haven’t gotten their shit together. How many guillotines and gas-chambers to the really need? Security is key in an operation like this. As soon as a new camp is built, they first use it to lock up all the people who know its location. Then they have to start all over again because nobody can find it. ---
**Author:** ![HookerChemical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/12 "2013-05-01T23:24:38Z")
Operation: As Slow as Possible. John Cage came up with it. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/13 "2013-05-02T15:27:20Z")
> [@HookerChemical](#): > > Operation: As Slow as Possible. John Cage came up with it. Oooh, I bet it has lots of rests. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/14 "2013-05-03T02:58:02Z")
> [@HookerChemical](#): > > Operation: As Slow as Possible. John Cage came up with it. Great idea! An operation with no movements. ---
**Author:** ![sidhechaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sidhechaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidhechaos)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-operation-ring-of-fire-nonsense-really-about/657117/15 "2013-05-03T06:21:46Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Operation Chuck E. Cheese. now _ **THAT** _ is a sign of the anti christ