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14. When was astrometeorology discovered, and by whom? The study of planetary effects on weather patterns is several thousand years old, and it was the Greek philosopher Aristotle who wrote the first known treatise on the weather. Throughout the centuries, his works were refined and expounded upon by astronomers such as Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Dr J. Goad and Sir Isaac Newton. English astrophysicist Dr John Gribbin and Washington-based astronomer Dr Stephen Plagemann talked about planetary cycles in their book The Jupiter Effect, published in 1974. Studying the planetary alignment cycles, they observed that when all the plan- ets lined up with Jupiter on the same side of the Sun, around every 179 years or so, great earthquakes would occur on Earth. In 1981 I met two American weather mavericks—namely, RCA's John Henry Nelson and Caltech's head meteorologist, Dr Irving Krick. Dr Krick was perhaps the only conventionally trained weatherman to believe that planets do influence our weather, and he subsequently set up a multi-million-dollar fore- casting business based in Palm Springs. 15. Which of your predictions have come to fruition? Since 1988 I have successfully predicted and published the date and location of some of the most notable Atlantic hurricanes, including Gilbert (1988), Hugo (1989), Andrew (1992), Opal (1995) and Hortense (1996). More importantly, for nine years in a row between 1988 and 1996, I was able to pinpoint the most powerful hurricane in every season. For thirteen years in a row, from 1985 to 1998, I also pinpoint- ed and published the most intense tropical cyclone for Australia's Coral Sea region in every season. Some of the notable tropical cyclones include Pierre (1985), Winifred (1986), Charlie (1988), Aivu (1989), Joy (1990), Justin (1997) and Nathan (1998). 16. How accurate will your 2000-2001 predictions be? Probably not as accurate as if I was working on one spec location. My track record in weather forecasting for a specific location runs around 85 per cent, but I do not expect to be this accurate when covering so many countries of the world simulta- neously. The more areas covered in predictive work, the less like- ly the accuracy. 17. You refer to Nostradamus's predictions fitting with events for the year 2000. Can you explain how? Of all the visionaries throughout the centuries, the French seer Nostradamus, born in 1503, would have to be the most well docu- mented and outstanding in his amazing ability to foresee future events. Unfortunately, the fact that he so cleverly concealed his visions in quatrains, to protect himself from the Inquisition, has made it difficult for anyone else to understand them fully. Still, there are some interesting parallels between several natural disas- ters which Nostradamus foresaw happening at a time when "the great century draws to a close", and events such as great floods and quakes which I have pinpointed to occur, especially in the year 2000. One of the most interesting quatrains could even pertain to the May 4-5, 2000 planetary alignment, where, in Century 9:23, Nostradamus describes a massive earthquake to take place when the Sun is at 20 degrees of Taurus: The Sun in twenty degrees of Taurus there will be a great earthquake. / The great theatre, full, will be ruined. / Darkness and trouble in the air, sky and land / When they call upon God and the saints. 18 = NEXUS Every year around May 10, the Sun passes over this point and has done so for the past 400 years—and so far without incident. No earthquake of such cataclysmic proportions as described by Nostradamus has occurred on that date—which means that the Sun at 20 degrees of Taurus is not the only factor in the equation. On May 10, 2000, with the planets still tightly grouped together after the planetary alignment on May 4-5, the Sun will enter the fated degree that Nostradamus foresaw. This time, not only will the Sun be at 20 degrees of Taurus, but it will be conjoined by Mercury and the planetary giants Jupiter and Saturn, and all will be forming a 90-degree angle to the planet Uranus. This combi- nation alone is explosive enough to trigger violent earthquakes and weather patterns, without additional backup from high sunspot activity and a major alignment of the planets. Maybe one of Nostradamus's visions will be fulfilled by coming true! 18. Do you believe that Nostradamus's prediction, that the Earth will be "plunged into the abyss of perpetual darkness", will come true in 2000? Nostradamus mentions this particular vision in the preface of his epistle to Henry II: There will be omens in spring, and extraordinary changes thereafter, reversals of nations and mighty earthquakes... And there shall be in the month of October a great movement of the Globe, and it will be such that one will think Earth has lost its natural gravitational movement and be plunged into the abyss of perpetual darkness. All of Nostradamus's works are open to interpretation, and although October's event sounds very much like an axis tilt, it could be more in line with a volcanic eruption. Earthquake swarms often accompany major volcanic eruptions where the ground sways around, giving the appearance that the Earth has lost its natural gravitational movement. Also, a thick, choking, ash cloud ejected from an explosive volcanic eruption can block out the sunlight for days, as has happened in cases like Mount Pinatubo, Mount Pelée and Mount Vesuvius. If Nostradamus is indeed referring to a volcanic eruption occur- ring in the month of October, then it could well be October 2000, for at that time the planets will be forming powerful aspects to each other which will not only result in violent weather but will also heighten volcanic activity to such an extent that we could witness a major volcanic eruption. 19. How do you respond to those who try to discredit your theories? No one can get the weather right 100 per cent of the time; there are just too many variables in the equation. But just because meteorologists can't get the weather right at times, doesn't mean that meteorology doesn't work. The same rule of thumb applies to what I do. So far, my greatest critics have been meteorologists. In September 1989, after successfully predicting the date and location when that fierce hurricane Hugo would slam into the South Carolina coast between September 20-22, a spokesperson from the National Hurricane Center in Florida said my prediction of Hugo was just "a fluke". The same type of comments came from Queensland meteorologists when I was dead-accurate in pin- pointing tropical cyclone Pierre—my first cyclone ever! Right or wrong, there will always be critics standing on the sidelines, especially if you dare rock the boat of conventional thinking. oo FEBRUARY — MARCH 2000