(WLTX) - This Friday, Hollywood will roll out "2012." It's supposed to be the disaster movie of all time, and is based on the belief that the earth will end in 2012.
The movie centers around the date December 21, 2012--the day that the Mayan Calendar ends.
The Mayans were an ancient civilation that studied the stars, and their calendars were extremely accurate.
South Carolina State University Professor of Physics Dr. Donald Walter says, "Nobody believes this is an apocalyptic end. This is simply the end of a cycle. Just like the odometer on your car, when it hits 100,000, the car doesn't blow up. You're not hit by an asteroid. It's not the end of your automobile. It just starts all over again. Some of the Mayan sculpture work and literature refer to times after the end of this cycle of the Mayan Calendar."
Not everyone sees it that way, and they're cashing in.
Dennis McClung started the web store 2012supplies.com two years ago. He sells dozens of items including food and water purification tablets. He gets thousands of hits a day.
McClung says, "Ever since I started my website, it has grown due to the interest in the subject. I'm hard-pressed to find somebody who hasn't heard about the subject at this time."
His customers are scattered all over the world. One of them is Stephanie Michael, a military wife and mother, stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
"It's just better to be prepared. I would rather have it now, in case anything did happen. That way, I could take care of myself and my family."
So, what could possibly cause the world to end in 2012?
Conspiracy theorists believe the government and NASA know about a large planet headed our way. Some call it "Planet X," while others call it "Nibiru."
Either way, theorists say it would cause widespread devastation. McClung believes that's a real possibility.
"I do. I think there are a lot of prophecies and scientific theroies from around the world that do corroborate the story here and that something could happen in 2012," McClung said.
Dr. Walter sees it differently.
"I think you have a handful of people who are misleading people for monetary reasons or their egos or whatever. It would be pretty hard to keep something like that quiet, given the number of people looking at the sky. This isn't a secret lab underground somewhere that you can hide this. This is the night sky and is open to anybody, and it's being observed every night by tens of thousands of people."
McClung says, "Everybody's entitled to their own opinion. I hope I end up looking like a big fool. In the meantime, I'm happy with the fact that I know I'm prepared to take care of my family if something happens in 2012 or any other year."
As for Stephanie, she's not sure what to think. She's heard of Nibiru, but she's more concerend about other potential disasters. "I'm wary of the therories. I don't want to be so naive and not consider it a possibility that something could happen. I would rather be open and take in all the info I can."
There are other websites out there that sell so-called "survival supplies," and there are nearly 200 books available that deal with the subject.
NASA has decided to address the issue head on. They've started a 2012 page on their website. There they answer commonly asked questions about 2012.
11/9/2009 11:32:02 PM
