On Monday, an estimated 31.6 million people across America will be in the path of the biggest solar eclipse since 2017.
Scientists will be able to study its effects on layers of the atmosphere, but according to conspiracy theorists, it could also be the end of days.
The internet is running wild with some outlandish claims.
Signs from God
Republican congresswoman Majorie Taylor Greene says she thinks it is a sign from God that America needs to repent its sins.
Her post on X suggested New York’s recent earthquake combined with the eclipse were “strong signs”.
Image: Marjorie Taylor Greene suggested the solar eclipse was a sign from God. Pic: AP
“I pray that our country listens,” she posted.
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Her post, seen by more than eight million people, had a community note added to explain that earthquakes are common and solar eclipses are predicted well in advance.
But the ability to predict the eclipse plays into other conspiracy theories.
Nefarious plans
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Right-wing commentator Alex Jones recently held an X Spaces event to discuss “what the globalists have planned for the imminent total solar eclipse”.
His guest Andrew Meyer told viewers the eclipse falls on a date in the Hebrew calendar where new energy can be pushed into the coming year. Mr Jones described Mr Meyer as “a expert on this”.
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Image: Alex Jones’ InfoWars has broadcast multiple theories about the solar eclipse. Pic: AP
“The globalists, obviously, they want to make a big push for evil, negative energy,” Mr Meyer said.
“They want to inject the seed of every new year with negative energy because that’s what they harvest.”
A guest host of Alex Jones’ Infowars also discussed the idea that scientists studying the eclipse are using it for their “nefarious plans”.
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2:35
Total solar eclipse explained
“The globalists, they believe these events have special powers,” Mike Adams said.
“So they are lining up important things in their minds, things to summon power.
“They are using the solar eclipse as a justification for the nefarious plans they intend to carry out.”
Image: Map showing when the eclipse will happen across the United States
End of days
Then there’s a vocal part of the internet who say Monday will be the end of the world, starting in Carbondale, Illinois.
Influencers have incorrectly mapped the eclipse’s ‘path of totality’ to show it covers between six and eight places called Nineveh.
Nineveh is mentioned in the Bible so the theorists are placing religious significance on their incorrect mapping.
In reality, this path, which shows where a total eclipse will be seen, covers two Ninevehs. The others will see a partial eclipse.
But the eclipse’s path continues to stir up theories.
Image: Total eclipse promo
When combined with the path of the US eclipse in 2017, they form a cross. At the centre of that cross is Carbondale, Illinois.
If you live in Carbondale, that means you will be lucky enough to see the full eclipse twice in seven years. According to debunked influencers on TikTok, it also means doomsday starts in your city.
The theories are being debunked by other influencers like Dan McClellan, a religious academic at the University of Birmingham.
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Anti-Trump protests took place across America on Saturday, with demonstrators decrying the administration’s immigration crackdown and mass firings at government agencies.
Events ranged from small local marches to a rally in front of the White House and a demonstration at a Massachusetts commemoration of the start of the Revolutionary War 250 years ago.
Thomas Bassford, 80, was at the battle reenactment with his two grandsons, as well as his partner and daughter.
He said: “This is a very perilous time in America for liberty. I wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom.”
At events across the country, people carried banners with slogans including “Trump fascist regime must go now!”, “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state,” and “Fight fiercely, Harvard, fight,” referencing the university’s recent refusal to hand over much of its control to the government.
Some signs name-checked Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian citizen living in Maryland, who the Justice Department admits was mistakenly deported to his home country.
People waved US flags, some of them held upside down to signal distress. In San Francisco, hundreds of people spelt out “Impeach & Remove” on a beach, also with an inverted US flag.
People walked through downtown Anchorage in Alaska with handmade signs listing reasons why they were demonstrating, including one that read: “No sign is BIG enough to list ALL of the reasons I’m here!”
Image: Pic: AP
Protests also took place outside Tesla car dealerships against the role Elon Musk ahas played in downsizing the federal government as de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The protests come just two weeks after similar nationwide demonstrations.
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Organisers are opposing what they call Mr Trump’s civil rights violations and constitutional violations, including efforts to deport scores of immigrants and to scale back the federal government by firing thousands of government workers and effectively shuttering entire agencies.
The Trump administration, among other things, has moved to shutter Social Security Administration field offices, cut funding for government health programs and scale back protections for transgender people.
US vice president JD Vance has met with Pope Francis.
The “quick and private” meeting took place at the Pope’s residence, Casa Santa Marta, in Vatican City, sources told Sky News.
The meeting came amid tensions between the Vatican and the Trump administration over the US president’s crackdown on migrants and cuts to international aid.
No further details have been released on the meeting between the vice president and the Pope, who has been recovering following weeks in hospital with double pneumonia.
Mr Vance, who is in Rome with his family, also met with the Vatican’s number two, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.
The Vatican said there had been “an exchange of opinions” over international conflicts, migrants and prisoners.
According to a statement, the two sides had “cordial talks” and the Vatican expressed satisfaction with the Trump administration’s commitment to protecting freedom of religion and conscience.
“There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees and prisoners,” the statement said.
Francis has previously called the Trump administration’s deportation plans a “disgrace”.
Mr Vance, who became Catholic in 2019, has cited medieval-era Catholic teaching to justify the immigration crackdown.
The pope rebutted the theological concept Mr Vance used to defend the crackdown in an unusual open letter to the US Catholic bishops about the Trump administration in February, and called Mr Trump’s plan a “major crisis” for the US.
“What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly,” the Pope said in the letter.
Mr Vance has acknowledged Francis’s criticism but said he would continue to defend his views. During an appearance in late February at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, he did not address the issue specifically but called himself a “baby Catholic” and acknowledged there were “things about the faith that I don’t know”.
While he had criticised Francis on social media in the past, recently he has posted prayers for the pontiff’s recovery.