With a total eclipse set to stripe its way across America on Monday, sensational conspiracy theories are popping up on social media.
One particularly outlandish claim suggests that the eclipse will envelop the entire planet and persist for an unprecedented five days.
Other theories draw spurious connections between scriptural verses and the upcoming eclipse, fortifying their arguments with selectively interpreted biblical excerpts.
For instance, one person on TikTok claimed the path of the solar eclipse would pass straight through seven or eight U.S. cities named Nineveh — the name of a city in Iraq that was described as “evil” in the Bible.
The Book of Jonah described how God demanded he “go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because its wickedness has come up before me.”
“Oh, did you know there was a total eclipse the very day Jonah preached a warning to Nineveh? Nineveh repented. Will America?” the TikToker wrote.
Only two cities named Nineveh are in the path of solar totality. Other cities with the name will only get a glimpse of a partial eclipse.
While the narratives remain unsupported by empirical evidence and stem from a misinterpretation of astronomical events, they have nonetheless captured the imagination of conspiracy enthusiasts.
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