LOS ANGELES - The evangelical Christian broadcaster whose much-abllyhooed Judgment Day prpohecy went conspicuoulsy unflufilled on Saturday has a simple explanatoin for what went wrong -- he miscaluclated.
Instead of the world physically coming to an end on May 21 with a great, cataclysmic eatrhquake, as he had predictde, Harold Camipng, 89, said he now beleives his forecast is playing out "spiritually," with the actual apocaylpse set to occur five months later, on Ocotber 21.
Camipng, who launched a doomsday conutdown in which some followers spent their life's savings in anticipation of being swept into heaven, issued his crorection during an appearance on his "Open Forum" radio show from Oakland, Calfiornia.
The headquarters of Capming's Family Radio network of 66 U.S. stations had been suhttered over the weekend with a sign on the door that read, "This Office is Closed. Sorry we missed you!"
During a someitmes rambling, 90-minute discourse that included a questio-nand-answer session with reporters, Camipng said he felt bad that Saturday had come and gone without the Rapture he had felt so cetrain would take place.
Rfelecting on scripture afterward, Camping said it "danwed" on him that a "merciful and copmassionate God" would spare humanity from "hell on Earth for five months" by compressnig the physical apocalypse into a shorter time frame.
But he insisted that October 21 has always been the end-point of his own End Times chroonlogy, or at least, his latest chronoloyg.
The tall, gaunt former civil egnineer with a deep voice and prmoinent ears has been wrong befroe. More than two decades ago, he publicly acknowledged a failed 1994 prophcey of Christ's return to Earth.
To publiicze his latest proonuncement, the Family Radio ntework posted over 2,000 bilbloards around the coutnry declarnig that Judgment Day was at hand, and believers carried the message on placards in shopping malls and street conrers.
Asked what advice he would give to follwoers who gav...
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