She would have predicted September 11, Chernobyl and even the end of the world. Every year, especially at the turn of the calendar, Baba Vanga’s name resurfaces on social networks as a sort of “spoiler” of what was to come. But with so many predictions attributed to the Bulgarian clairvoyant, the question remains: can we really believe she saw the future – or are we facing a phenomenon fueled by vague interpretations and misinformation?
Baba Vanga, born Vangelia Pandeva Dimitrova, died in 1996, but continues to be cited as the author of prophecies that are said to span centuries. Between world wars, alien contact, and environmental collapses, their so-called visions tend to gain traction in the online world as a new year approaches, as if offering clues to the fate of humanity.
The mystic’s biography helps explain this fascination. Born in 1911, in a region that is now part of North Macedonia, Vanga lost her sight at the age of 12 after an episode attributed to a tornado. From then on, she began to be seen as a clairvoyant, receiving visitors seeking spiritual guidance, predictions and alternative cures, particularly during and after World War II.
The problem begins when we observe that Baba Vanga never left any written records. Illiterate, all predictions attributed to him were documented by third parties, including family members and followers, after his death. There is no official, verifiable, or agreed-upon set of prophecies, leaving room for conflicting versions, later adaptations, and even complete inventions.
What Baba Vanga would have predicted and did not happen
Among the predictions that clearly did not come true was that of World War III. According to recurring reports, Baba Vanga declared that a global conflict would begin in November 2010 and last until October 2014. The period passed without the announced war taking place, despite regional conflicts and diplomatic tensions.
Another prophecy often cited as a failure concerns the 1994 World Cup. The seer is said to have predicted a final contested by “two teams starting with the letter B”, an interpretation which fueled expectations in Bulgaria, which however did not reach the decision of the tournament organized in the United States.
The 45th President of the United States was also predicted to be the country’s last. Donald Trump, who served in office between 2017 and 2021, was replaced by Joe Biden, dismantling the narrative attributed to the seer.
More recently, the predictions attributed to Baba Vanga for 2023 have also not been confirmed. These included a massive nuclear explosion at a power plant, a change in Earth’s orbit, a devastating solar storm, the use of a biological weapon by a superpower, and even the termination of natural pregnancies. None of these scenarios came to pass.
The fact is that there is a fragility in these stories. An article published by the Washington Post in 2012 pointed out that many predictions associated with Baba Vanga emerged or became popular on Russian conspiracy forums, without any documentary basis proving their direct origin from the clairvoyant.
There are also those who say that the language attributed to Baba Vanga follows a pattern common to other famous clairvoyants, such as Nostradamus: vague, symbolic phrases open to multiple interpretations. This type of discourse facilitates retrospective association with real events, even when there is no objective correspondence.
This is not to say that all predictions attributed to him are considered false by his supporters. Among the most cited “hits” are interpretations of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the election of Barack Obama and the fall of the Soviet Union. In all cases, however, the associations were made after the fact, without contemporaneous documents to prove these statements.
For 2026, predictions are circulating regarding contact with extraterrestrials, large-scale natural disasters, global conflicts and radical technological advances. None of them have scientific or institutional support, and there is no evidence that Baba Vanga actually anticipated an event with verifiable accuracy.
Without evidence, without direct testimony and with a long list of errors, Baba Vanga remains less a prophet of the future than a cultural phenomenon which, although popular, deserves to be viewed with caution.
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