Web Bot

March 18, 2015 · updated February 15, 2022

The “Web Bot” is a software program created in 1997 that some claim can predict the future by means of tracking keywords used on the Internet. It was intended to predict the stock market by its creators, Clif High and George Ure, but many people think it can do much more than that now and has applications for December 21, 2012. Although High and Ure have always kept the algorithms a secret, they do explain that the program works by searching for 300,000 keywords that have an emotional context, which provides the software with a “snapshot.” Believers in the Web Bot think it’s able to examine the collective unconscious of humanity through that snapshot, which enables it to predict catastrophic events 60-90 days in advance. So what does this have to do with December 21, 2012? The Web Bot has apparently predicted that a catastrophic event will devastate Earth in 2012, possibly reversing the planet’s magnetic poles. Believers in the December 21, 2012 Doom's Day date believe the Web Bot verifies the Mayan prophecy. ## The Web Bot’s Success Rate

The Web Bot is credited with predicting events such as September 11, 2001. The story of that prophecy began in June 2001, when the computer said that there would be a catastrophic event in the next 60-90 days. The computer is also said to have predicted the anthrax attacks that occurred at the end of the same year. Further, the Web Bot is credited with foreseeing the crash of American Airlines Flight 587, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the Northeast Blackout of 2003, the 2004 Indian earthquake, Hurricane Katrina, and even former Vice President Dick Cheney’s hunting accident. So is the Web Bot a reliable predictor of future events? Does is corroborate the alleged Mayan prophecy of December 21, 2012?

The Web Bot’s prophecies are vague and can be made to connect with almost any person or event. That said, the Web Bot has gotten a lot wrong as well:

  • A massive earthquake that it predicted in Vancouver, British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest for December 12, 2008, never occurred.
  • A catastrophic event on a U.S. coast was predicted for mid-2009, which led High and Ure to tell people to stay away from the coasts, never occurred.
  • It predicted the complete collapse of the U.S. dollar beginning in 2009, which never occurred.
  • It predicted that Israel would bomb Iran in 2009, which would throw President Obama into chaos ten days later, which never occurred.

The Web Bot has also predicted the start of World War 3 on November 11, 2010. According to High and Ure, the war will involve the U.S. to a major degree and could trigger the collapse of the dollar. There also may be missile launches on December 14, 2010. Before World War 3, though, civil unrest will take place from July 8, 2010 onward. As of the publication of this article, no such unrest has been reported in the world.

The Web Bot apparently has a “data gap” running between early 2012 through May 2013. Believers in the Web Bot contend that this suggests an event occurs, possibly a solar flare, which sends the world back to a pre-electronic state. Skeptics have complained about the vagueness of the Web Bot’s predictions, saying it’s virtually impossible to determine the people and events to which they refer. Furthermore, 2012 chatter is increasing on the Internet, which the Web Bot “reads,” but this doesn’t increase the likelihood of the event occurring just because people are talking about it.

References

  • Tom Chivers. "Web Bot Project Makes Prophecy of 2012 Apocalypse." Daily Telegraph. London, England.