Armageddon, the end of the world predicted by the ancient Maya for December 2012, is a very popular subject these days. In fact, it’s so popular that places considered sacred and safe have become the target of many esoteric outsiders.
This is also the case of Bugarach, a peaceful French farming village, located on one of the “sacred mountains” and, believed to be an “alien garage” where aliens await, underground, for the world to end. Many believe that by coming here, they have a chance to be rescued by the aliens, while the rest of the world goes down in flames.
It might sound funny to you, but for mayor Jean-Pierre Delord, this isn’t a joke, as he said in an interview “If tomorrow 10,000 people turn up, as a village of 200 people we will not be able to cope. I have informed the regional authorities of our concerns and want the army to be at hand if necessary come December 2012.” And with all the sites and articles on the internet talking about the UFOs and advising people to go to Bugarach to seek shelter, the army may have their hands full when the time comes.
“Ufologists” have bought properties in the area and are offering sect-like courses for around 800 euros a week, the mountainside is filled with people praying and doing all sorts of unusual rituals, and locals say weird alien-watching mechanisms have been installed around the mountain village. The people of Bugarach feel like their home is not theirs anymore.
Many say that Jules Verne used this mountain as inspiration for his “A Journey to the Centre of the Earth” book, and that Steven Spielberg was also inspired by Bugarach for his movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, even though the actual shooting took place on Devil’s Tower, in Wyoming. Apparently these are good enough reasons to make people think that aliens will come to save them.
If you ask me, I completely agree with what one of Bugarach’s inhabitants said: “If I really believed the world were about to end, I’d have a whale of a time over the next two years rather than look for salvation.”
