An extract from Sylvia Browne's book of prophecies "End of Days" is going viral and it seems she had predicted it almost a decade ago.
The WHO has declared the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, a pandemic. So far, it has infected 126,344 and killed at least 4,639 globally, claims Express.
As the COVID-19 gradually engulfs a major part of the world, conspiracy theories related to it are doing rounds on social media at a rapid pace. As per Express, conspiracy theorists have so far claimed that the virus was predicted by the 16th-century prophet Nostradamus and the Christian Bible.
Owing to its full-blown pandemic status right now, many have started looking into fictional works, hints, and predictions related to COVID-19. A few diligent researchers found that author Dean Koontz wrote of a pneumonia-like disease, coincidentally called Wuhan-400 in his 1981 novel The Eyes of Darkness.
Dean Koontz, The Eyes of Darkness, 1981. Conspiracy theorists go wild! #CoronavirusOutbreak pic.twitter.com/i5w2uLDHjz
— Tanvir M M (@malmuk_tanvir) March 7, 2020
Not only Koontz, but psychic Sylvia Browne wrote of a pneumonia outbreak ravaging the world in her 2008 book End of Days: Predictions and Prophecies about the End of the World.
YEAR 2008 - American author Sylvia Browne in her Book End of Days, Did predicted the Corona Virus. pic.twitter.com/lE8f7alNqt
— Omkar Gaikwad (@OmiTwitts) March 6, 2020
Sylvia Browne was a self-declared psychic who rose to fame because of her claims that she could predict the future and communicate with spirits. She died in 2013, but now her book about predictions has become the talk of the town.
However, while Twitter users are claiming that Sylvia Browne's prediction about the coronavirus has now come to life, she was once massively criticized for wrongly predicting the death of Amanda Berry. She had told her mother Louwanna Miller that her daughter was dead. According to ABC, on a 2004 episode of The Montel Williams Show, Browne told the grieving mother, "She's not alive, honey. Your daughter's not the kind who wouldn't call."
But it was later found out that she was still alive. She was also criticized for falsely informing grieving parents about their missing children. Although, if the book leaf being circulated on Twitter is to go by, the description of the "respiratory disease" mentioned in it is strikingly similar to the symptoms of coronavirus.
Apparently #sylviabrowne predicted #Coronavirussouthafrica about 12 years ago and she says it will just vanish then return years later. pic.twitter.com/XAF1orLheo
— Siba (@SibanengMabhena) March 7, 2020
"In around 2020 a severe pneumonia-like illness will spread throughout the globe, attacking the lungs and the bronchial tubes and resisting all known treatments. Almost more baffling than the illness itself will be the fact that it will suddenly vanish as quickly as it arrived, attack again ten years later, and then disappear completely," read the page.
Myth-busting website Snopes wrote, "Although the term “prediction” is a subjective one, it may come as no surprise that Browne claimed to have foreseen an international respiratory disease outbreak, considering that the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak of the early 2000s occurred before her book was published."
It also said, "It's unclear whether Browne's "prediction" was more of a lucky guess, considering the book was written after the SARS outbreak. Furthermore, it's unknown —possibly unlikely — whether other aspects of Browne's book passage will bear out."
Is it just me, or the top paragraph is more important? #SylviaBrowne #EndOfDays pic.twitter.com/wrDF0YWEc3
— Yuli (@Yulshei) March 12, 2020
Sylvia Browne and Dean Koontz's predictions may or may not be real but coronavirus is. Therefore, it is only wise and logical to follow guidelines from trusted medical organizations and stay safe!
References:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sylvia-browne-coronavirus/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/amanda-berrys-mom-told-pyschic-sylvia-browne-berry/story?id=19126853