Some people might say that they would love to have the power to read people’s minds or see into the future. When they encounter someone who can do these things, it’s downright creepy! And that was precisely what a certain Bulgarian blind woman could do. Over the years, she foresaw wars, calamities, and even deaths that rocked the 21st century. It’s one thing to make predictions; but when they do come to pass, it can be quite spooky! Here is an account about the life of the old lady, often thought by many to have a mental illness, and some of the prophecies she made in her lifetime.
A Prophetess Is Born
Vangelia Pandeva Dimitrova was born and raised in the Strumica village. She had an ordinary life until she turned 12 and became the victim of a freak accident of nature. A massive tornado-like storm ravaged through her village and unfortunately, she was caught up in its wake. She was apparently flung up into the air and then a gust of wind threw her back down to the ground. Her family found her several days later on the verge of death, with her eyes injured and sealed shut. A thick layer of dirt and dust had also encrusted her eyes, and they must have figured she needed to see an eye specialist urgently.
Surviving Against All Odds
Vangelia survived the ordeal against the odds but her family could only afford to pay for partial eye surgery. They were destitute and couldn’t give her the care that she needed and unfortunately, she gradually lost her sight. She later enrolled in a school for the blind in 1925 to learn Braille. During the three years that she spent at the school, she also learned how to play the piano, knit, and cook. When her stepmother died, she returned home to care for her younger siblings. In 1939, she once again faced near-death, having contracted pleurisy. While the doctors said that she would soon die, once again, she beat the odds and recovered quickly.
The Power To See & Heal
According to Vangelia’s account, during the time that she had been missing following the storm, she experienced her first vision. She believed that it was at that time that she received the ability to see the future and help people. During World War II, when Strumica ceded to Bulgaria, believers started going to Vangelia because they considered her a soothsayer for counseling, wanting to hear what she had to say about the fate of their relatives. She also received visits from prominent people, including the tsar of Bulgaria, Boris III, who visited her in 1942.
Unexpected Love
Bulgarian soldier Dimitar Gushterov visited Vangelia to seek answers about his brother’s killers. She made him promise her that he wouldn’t go after the perpetrators in revenge. Eventually, love had blossomed between the two and they moved to Petrich shortly before their wedding in May 1942. Unfortunately, soon after, the Bulgarian Army conscripted Dimitar and he spent some time in Northern Greece. He fell ill in 1947, became an alcoholic, and passed on in April 1962. At that point, it seemed like too much tragedy befell Vangelia and she had already been through a lot.
The 9/11 Attacks Prediction
Baba Vanga, as she became lovingly referred to by believers, had a vision all the way back in 1989 which came to pass in 2001. Accounts claimed that amidst a dream, she cried out saying that she had seen the horror of steel birds attacking Americans. She added that she had also seen innocent blood flowing while wolves howled in a bush. When Islamic extremists launched an attack against the U.S. on September 11, 2001, her believers attributed it to the statements she had made all those years earlier. Many people – close to 3,000 – lost their lives and over 6,000 needed urgent treatment because of injuries sustained.
Kursk Submerged In Water
In 1980, Baba Vanga foresaw the Russian submarine Kursk submerged under water. Some say that it isn’t anything out of the ordinary for a submarine to be covered by water, but it’s a problem when the vessel sinks. Kursk sank on August 12, 2000, at the Barent Sea and all those aboard the sub lost their lives. The sad incident was among many of the predictions that Baba Vanga had accurately foretold, and the submarine crew that had gone into retirement the year before the sinking were lucky enough to have escaped the tragedy.
Predicting World War III
Baba Vanga predicted that World War III was oncoming in 2010. Allegedly, it would be sparked by the assassinations of several powerful heads of states, which believers interpreted to be the deaths of Netanyahu, Gordon Brown, Sarkozy, Vladimir Putin, and Obama. Fortunately, all these leaders are still very much alive. But digging deeper into the depression-causing prediction, you’d realize it was somehow true. In 2010, Polish leader Lech Kaczynski and Hamas leader Mahmud al-Mabhouh were assassinated, and the following year, Gaddafi was killed. Vanga had predicted that WWIII would start by the end of 2010 and last until October 2014. She also predicted that the war would use nuclear and chemical weapons.
Skin Disease Outbreaks
Following the nuclear war ravaging the world, Baba Vanga made predictions about diseases that would afflict survivors between the 2010 and 2016 period. She foresaw that the world would experience an increased outbreak of skin cancer and other related diseases. Her prediction also saw Europe becoming abandoned as an aftermath of the nuclear fallout. At some point, the bleakness of it all started hitting home with the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Perhaps luckily, this was also one of her predictions that didn’t come to pass. After all, nuclear war is always something that the world is only happy to do without.
China Rises As A Superpower
This was one of Baba Vanga’s predictions that had eerily come true, only that China already held the reputation as a military and economic powerhouse. She foresaw China rising as a superpower by exercising dominion over developing countries across the globe. For instance, in 2015, China floated $82 billion in cheap loans to African countries toward the construction of much-needed infrastructure, including schools, construction projects, and surgeries. Some viewed it as debt-trap diplomacy because if the countries that took out the loans would be unable to pay up, Beijing would simply demand debt relief-like concessions.
A Change In The Earth’s Orbit
Going into some of the future predictions of Baba Vanga, she made a forecast that by 2023, the earth would have changed its orbit. The effects of the earth’s orbital variations aren’t still fully understood even now but the implications of small changes can mean us plunging into an ice age or alternatively cause an astronomical temperature rise. Now, imagine what a complete orbital shift looks like: the extinction of several species and even possibly the end of life as we know it. Unlike what disaster movies will have us believe, not even a private jet can help anyone escape the climate extremes!
An End To World Hunger
Even in the early ’90s, a lot of relief efforts went toward trying to solve the problem of world hunger. Several developing countries still suffer from this crisis, though, leading to an astounding number of deaths. But this shouldn’t be the case with today’s advanced technologies. Vanga made a prediction that it would all change and world hunger would completely be a thing of the past from 2025 going into 2028 which would, in turn, bring an end to health complications related to malnourishment. She also foresaw the launch of a manned spacecraft en route to Venus in 2028.
Polar Ice Caps Melt
One of the other scary yet eerily possible predictions Baba Vanga made was that the Polar ice caps would melt down around 2033 to 2045. That would result in the rising of sea levels by up to 216 feet if all of the ice melted down, which scientists said, under normal circumstances, would take 5,000 years to melt. The world would lose chunks of land to water and temperatures would shoot up. You might have seen this scenario dramatized in some documentaries or doomsday full movies! Another prediction she made was that by 2043 the world’s economy would be thriving.
Commercialization Of Cloning
Now, most of the sci-fi movies we have seen would have us believe that there would be a future coming where cloning would thrive, and that was precisely what Baba Vanga had predicted. She foresaw that in 2043, cloning would become a crucial factor in eradicating diseases. The idea was that by that time, technology advancements would allow us to clone just about any organ. That meant that if you would be in need a kidney transplant, then you wouldn’t have to wait months or even years for a donor; you could simply get a cloned one.
Freeze Attacks On Rome
Much like the Batman villain Mr. Freeze who brandishes a freeze-gun along with a refrigeration suit as movie props, the U.S. will likely use something close to that on an attack against Muslim Rome in 2066. They’ll apparently use a new technology designed to weaponize the climate through sharp cooling, resulting in instant freezing. This all tied in with her prediction about the invasion of Europe in 2016, which didn’t come to pass. However, as with most of her previous predictions, the timelines might not pan out but there could be some truth into what she foresaw.
Communism Reigns Over The World
Communist views have long been considered as a somewhat backward way to run a society, but others may feel like that system is the solution to effectively run countries as long as it’s done the right way. One of the predictions Baba Vanga made that was very likely to come into fruition was that communism might reign in 2076. You can just imagine how having all those visions of wars and other tragedies can affect anyone’s psyche. If she were still alive today, then she would probably have some weekly sit-down sessions with a psychiatrist!
New Benjamin Button Disease?
Much like the full movie The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Baba Vanga envisioned a disease ravaging the world in 2088 that would work in reverse. The people afflicted by the disease would apparently get old in a matter of seconds. Just imagine the symptoms that could come with the strange disease and how would someone even contract it in the first place? Fortunately, unlike Benjamin Button who eventually died as a baby without a cure for his illness, this particular instant-aging disease would eventually get a cure in 2097, according to Baba Vanga.
Artificial Sun Lights Up Earth’s Darkest Corners
The year 2100 seems like a very long time away and who knows, probably by that time, we will have traversed and conquered space. According to Baba Vanga, that would be the year when we would have an artificial sun lighting up earth’s darkest corners. It was one of her curious yet exciting predictions and just think of how scientists would synthesize the artificial sun! However, much like with new inventions, she also foresaw something going wrong in 2345, leading to severe drought throughout the earth. She also saw two artificial suns colliding in 2480, plunging earth in an anxiety-inducing state of complete darkness.
Cyborgs Take Over The Planet
The Bulgarian Nostradamus, as some people had called her, said that she saw a future that looked much like the scene from a movie. She saw that the 22nd century would be dominated by “live robots.” This would happen in the year 2111 and it would possibly be a bleak time to look forward to if humans would turn into cyborgs. With the exponential advancements in biotechnology and artificial intelligence, the distinction between machine and nature becomes blurred with each passing day. Therefore, the time will likely come when most of us will start adopting robotics as part of our bodies, making Baba Vanga’s prediction a reality.
The War Of The Worlds
Much like the script of the 2005 War of the Worlds film starring Tom Cruise, Baba Vanga had a vision that the planets would start warring. This would happen in 2183 sparked by Mars becoming a nuclear power. She predicted that the planet would demand its independence from the earth and that could literally send us to the verge of an apocalypse. However, we could possibly have a fighting chance if by then we’d have evolved to cyborgs and would possibly have invented futuristic modes of attack. Just imagine how a doomsday amber alert would affect the stock market!
Going Back To The Start
Following the aftermath of an apocalypse, the earth would have to start rebuilding itself. Baba Vanga envisioned this happening way down the line around 3815. She envisioned a breakdown of civilization and people living like beasts. That depressive period would stretch out for years but it would eventually come to an end in 3878. A new religion would rise in 2167, offering the light that humans would need to get out of the state of darkness – or put in another way, the therapy that the human race would long for to rise up once again.
Animals Evolve Into Humans
Revisiting our biology lessons, we were taught that humans evolved from primates. Over the years, people have raised questions about why modern-day apes, chimps, and gorillas aren’t becoming human. Science explained that the genetic mutation from primate to human happened largely because of environmental shifts, including climate, predators, and food. We had to literally become human to survive the tough times back then. Well, Baba Vanga foresaw that in 2164, animals would start evolving into half-human beings perhaps as a mechanism to make it through tough times to come. That would mean revisions made to the animal rights and possibly even the constitution.
The Future City Of Atlantis
The old pop song, Year 3000 by the British punk band Busted (then by the Jonas Brothers), suggests that nothing will change during that time except that we’ll be living underwater. Baba Vanga seemed to agree and she envisioned that by 2195, a thriving sea colony would have been fully developed, much like the fabled city of Atlantis. She envisioned it being self-sufficient with abundant food and energy. She foresaw the human race having mastered the seas and we would be able to live underwater by 2130. Surprisingly, not many people questioned her mental health at that point despite her suggesting that aliens would have taught us how to inhabit the planet’s waters.
The Sun “Stops Working”
Going back to the creation of artificial suns, it would probably be sparked by the slowing down of the current sun’s thermonuclear processes. It will cause temperature drops on earth and that’s probably why we will do what we can to solve the problem by creating other suns. Scientists have even explained that the sun doesn’t have anti-aging capabilities, and it will burn out eventually. This is because it has already used up half of its hydrogen fuel during the 4.6 billion years that it has existed. However, scientists foresaw that happening five billion years from now while Baba Vanga’s prediction suggested that it would happen in 2201.
The Never-Ending Search For Alien Life
It seems that even after making contact with aliens and learning a couple of technology tricks from them, we would still be searching for other extraterrestrial life. According to Baba Vanga, our searches would be fruitful in 2221 but we wouldn’t be ready for what we’d encounter. She foresaw that we would discover something terrible. In fact, in 2256, spacecraft forgotten on earth would unleash deadly new diseases on our planet. By that time, we must have commercialized interplanetary travel and you have to imagine the type of flight packages that will exist for that.
The Laws Of Physics Change
According to Baba Vanga, given the astronomical changes that would happen to our planet and other surrounding stars, it would call for a recalculation of the laws of physics in 2271. There is still so much about the universe that we don’t know and it can literally break down the laws of physics. At the same time, several scientists argue to the contrary because certain laws of physics are considered absolute. Take for example the third Newtonian law of physics: think of a car on a road; its tires push the road backward so that the vehicle moves forward. Imagine what would happen if that law of physics changed!
An Immortal Human Race
Baba Vanga saw a time when the “yellow, black, and white” races would completely mix, creating a new race in 2273. Following the aftermath of the doomsday that earth would go through, people would mutate and begin to use more than 34% of their brains (although the notion that we use part of our brain is just a pervasive myth; we use it all), resulting in advancements in our biology and allowing us to lose the notions of hatred and evil by 4308. From 4302 to 4674, we would also discover the proverbial fountain of youth, thanks to collaborations with our extraterrestrial friends, and humans would become immortal. We wonder if that would render health insurance services redundant!
Emigrating To Other Planets
Apparently, by 4674, civilizations across the planets will have reached their peak. She said that people and extraterrestrials would emigrate to different planets, with each having a rough population estimate of 340 billion. We will also begin to assimilate with aliens at that point, and perhaps interspecies pregnancy cases won’t be too shocking then. Baba Vanga also envisioned that there would exist a boundary universe in 5076 and in 5078, we would have reached the decision to drop universe boundaries. She also foresaw that 50% of the population would oppose the move to break the universe boundaries.
Time Travel Becomes A Reality
One of the coolest visions that the old beloved Baba Vanga had had was that of time travel. Finally, after years of only ever having seen time machines on movies, the time-hopping facilities could literally be everywhere between 2262 to 2304. On the flip-side, she also foresaw the French guerrillas up in arms fighting Muslim authorities, and that also somewhat conflicted with her prediction of the U.S. successfully fighting the Muslim regime in 2066. In all likelihood, most people would use that advanced technology to go back to time and avoid taking up a credit card loan!
The Barack Obama Prediction
Most of Baba Vanga’s predictions came across as out there and the people she told them to wouldn’t have been blamed for seeking out urgent mental health treatment for the old woman. However, given that several of the predictions during the ’80s have already come true, we understand why scores of followers still believe in her word. One of the predictions she made that most people believed came true, was visualizing the US with an African-American head of state. On the other hand, her vision had foreseen Barack Obama as the nation’s very last president, leaving the country in complete economic ruin.
The End Of The Prophecies
While Baba Vanga had offered us about 31 decades-worth of predictions, they eventually came to an end when she passed away in 1996. Throngs of people attended her funeral and amongst them were dignitaries. Her final testament was that her Petrich house would be transformed into a museum and it was officially opened to visitors in May 2008. Over the years, emails have circulated, outlining her predictions as cataloged by those who interacted with her during her lifetime. Given the 85% success rate of the events that she predicted, we can only wait and see which of her visions of the future will materialize.