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Guillaume Horcajuelo / EPA
Two men dressed in tinfoil stand in the French village of Bugarach on Friday. The mountain near Bugarach was touted as a haven from the Maya apocalypse, but most of those who came to the village on the big day were journalists.
Doomsday was a bust in the French village of Bugarach, which was supposed to be one of the rare safe havens during the Maya apocalypse.
In advance of today's supposed global crisis, rumor-mongers spread the word that a peak near the picturesque village in the French Pyrenees (population: 200) would be the only place on Earth to escape destruction. A giant UFO and aliens were said to be waiting under the mountain, ready to burst through and spirit those nearby to safety.
When the rumors cropped up, authorities worried that tens of thousands of New Agers would overwhelm the village — so French gendarmes tried to seal off access to anyone not having the proper papers.
Some believers made it through. Ludovic Broquet, a 30-year-old plumber, told The Associated Press that he put a year of preparation into his trek, in hopes of finding a "gateway, the vortex that will open up here (at) the end of the world."
But most of the visitors to Bugarach today were journalists. The Telegraph's Henry Samuel was among the throng looking for action in the village. He found two brothers from Marseille who spent the night in a cave on the mountainside waiting for the vortex to open.
Although they never found the vortex, they did report seeing a bluish light in the cave in the middle of the night. "It stopped, started to look at us, and rushed towards us," one of the brothers, identified as Laurent, told The Telegraph. "I had a feeling of ecstasy. It’s hard to describe. We had our fair dose and are on our way out."
Guillaume Horcajuelo / EPA
People gather in the French village of Bugarach on Friday while authorities block access to a nearby mountain.
The journalists are on their way out, too, leaving behind some miffed villagers. "What is going on here is the creation of an urban legend," Michele Pous told AP.
Pous blamed the folks who started the rumors: "They created a media frenzy, they created a false event, they manipulated people."
More about the non-apocalypse:
- New, doom-free era begins
- What about doomsday preppers?
- Year-end cartoon laughs at doomsday
- The Maya calendar's Big Day dawns
- Why NASA jumped the gun on doomsday
- Doomsday hot spots around the globe
- Video: 'We're very respectful of traditions'
- Cosmic Log archive on 2012 and doomsday fears
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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Where can I get one of those awesome silver suits?
Safeway. It's called aluminum foil and comes in rolls. The Duct tape can be obtained at Home Depot.
Human Beings are the craziest animals God put on this earth.
It's the end of the world as we know it...
It's the end of the world as we know it...
It's the end of the world as we know it...
And I feel fine!
So I guess tomorrow is the start of the (what number?) cycle of the Mayan calendar. Assume the end will come when that epoc expires.
Didn't end. Too bad. Should have.
Tomorrow is the start of another baktun (another age) per the Mayan calendar. According to archaeologists, this new baktun will last another 5000 years. (the previous baktun, which ends today, was 7000 years.)
On another, more sobering note, for the families in CT who buried loved ones (especially the children) their world ended last Friday.
I posted that very same sentiment earlier this week. Depends on what "world" means and to most of us it's that which is closest. "Worlds" end second by second. Also did you note that half the tablet was missing Amanda? Wonder what was on it. Also interesting that the Mayan's looked so far ahead when all we can get at Barnes & Noble is a calendar for the current year :-).
Have a safe fullfilling Christmas or Holiday Season if you prefer.
The sad fact is, most people are ignorant, credulous, gullible, superstitious, uncritical-thinking, rationalizing idiots.
The stupid, it hurts....
Beam me up Scotty! I can't take any more of this planet!
Maybe not the End of the World, but during the late hours of Dec. 20th and continuing through Dec. 21st, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has recorded a series of CMEs flying over the solar limb. The source of the clouds appears to be multiple blast sites on the farside of the sun. This means Earth is not in the line of fire. The increasing pace of farside activity, however, suggests that the Earthside might not be far behind. Stay tuned for changes - http://www.spaceweather.com/
I track those solar happenings too Stephen and quite a few CME's have been emmitted on the far side over the past year. We have only had one or two X flares directed towards earth but it is always a concern as solar max intensifies through 2013. The major concern are the massive power transformers. I hope they have remedied the susceptibility of these units from ground induced currents (GIC's) because if something on the order of an X25 and up were to hit the earth's magnetosphere many transformers would melt out causing long power outages and studies have shown that it wouldn't be long before anarchy commenced.
For those interested, space weather i.e. solar status can be seen at spaceweather.com
The world ended 3 hours ago. We just haven't noticed yet.
Gullibility abounds in the human race so the continued existence of Doomsday Preppers is assured even as they lose some business in 2013.
Congress will make double sure of that!