Don't Fall For It

CHAPTER 4It’s the End of the World as We Know It

Men resist randomness, markets resist prophecy.

—Maggie Mahar

On December 17, 1954, The Chicago Tribune ran the following headline:

• DOCTOR WARNS OF DISASTERS IN WORLD TUESDAY

The paper interviewed Dr. Charles Laughead at the home of Dorothy Martin. Dr. Laughead informed the paper that Martin received communications “from outer space.” Reporters were told these communications from outer space revealed to Martin the world would be coming to an end from a great flood. Practically all life on earth would cease to exist in the aftermath, save for the small group of followers who were stationed at Martin’s home. Martin convinced her supporters “Supreme Beings” from a planet called Clarion sent her messages promising they would save only the true believers. These messages flowed through her from other planets which would then come out as her own writings which she would relay to her group of fellow flying saucer aficionados.

Dr. Laughead further explained, “There will be a tidal wave, a volcanic action, and a rise in the ground extending from Hudson’s Bay [in Canada] to the Gulf of Mexico which will seriously affect the center of the United States. There will be much loss of life, practically all of it, in 1955. It is an actual fact that the world is a mess. But the Supreme Being is going to clean house by sinking all of the land masses as we know them now and raising the land masses now under sea.” The doctor further explained ...