Parowan Prophet predicts end of world

The temperature along the Wasatch Front will be 11 million degrees at the end of the world if Leland Freeborn is accurate.

Freeborn, self-proclaimed Parowan Prophet from Parowan, Utah, claims to have seen the end of the world. After a plane wreck 20 years ago, Freeborn was in a coma, which he said started his prophetic visions. During his coma, he said God showed him the end of the world, which began with World War III. According to Freeborn, the end of the world begins when Russia launches nuclear missiles over the North Pole -- with Hill Air Force Base as a target.

'I"ve never lived through an explosion,' Freeborn said. 'But I"ve stood in the fire [in a vision], I"ve smelled the smoke, I"ve felt the blast and the wind. God has realistic videos that are fantastic.'

Freeborn"s visions get grimmer.

'One million will die between Brigham City and St. George,' he said. 'If you live beyond 10 miles of Hill Air Force Base don"t let the sun go down without a full tank of gas.' He suggested going there because Cache Valley won"t suffer as much damage as the rest of northern Utah.

Freeborn said Russia will attack because it thinks America is the modern-day Babylon, the center of wealth and cruelty. With U.S. forces in Iraq, America cannot defend itself and its ammunition dumps. In fact, the United States will have problems defending itself in Operation Iraqi Freedom; it has underestimated Iraq"s strength.

'We will lose tens of thousands of our military,' Freeborn said. 'In less than six weeks, we will use nukes.'

In a 1988 vision, an angel took Freeborn to Babylon. There, Saddam Hussein has an underground germ warfare complex. To destroy it, the United States will use nuclear bombs, killing thousands.

Freeborn said Russia is waiting for Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to die before striking.

'I cannot tell you why God does what he does,' Freeborn said. 'I only have to make some suppositions.'

In times of turmoil, it isn"t unusual for people to think about the end of the world, said Jeff Hurst,Weber State University"s counseling and psychological services director.

'They could see prophecies of the end of the world with these events,' he said.

Science speaks up

Amid Freeborn"s predictions of nuclear Armageddon, Applied Geotechnical Engineering Consultants, Inc. geologist Michael Davis has a scientific stance on the state of the 4.5-billion-year-old planet.

'There are very few natural events that could bring about an "end of the world" scenario such as an impact with a celestial object,' Davis said. This is what happened to the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. He pointed out that the world did not end entirely.

'And the world continued, although for the dinosaurs it was the end,' he said.

If a nuclear catastrophe were to occur, the bombs" targets would be destroyed due to the pressure of the explosion Davis said. The attack would cause a nuclear winter where debris and dust block the sunlight, prevent photosynthesis, would decrease temperatures and cause mass extinction of life.

Religions speak out

The LDS Church believes in the 'latter-days': the belief in the end of the world, and the beginning of the millennium. This is a time of peace; when Jesus will come again.

'Before he comes, there will be events that will be quite dramatic or dynamic,' said Ronald Zollinger, Ogden LDS Institute of Religion instructor. 'He called these events "the last days."'

Members also believe Christ predicted men such as Freeborn would call themselves prophets.

'Christ said there would be false prophets and some people will be deceived by them,' Zollinger said.

While Zollinger does not agree with Freeborn, he said it is of interest for followers of the LDS religion to read what Freeborn has to say because it will bolster their own faith in their prophet -- Hinckley.

Freeborn is used to those kinds of statements.

'I would love to be a false prophet,' he said. 'Wonderful, great, if millions of people go on living that"s great.'

While the Roman Catholic Church believes in the Parousiah, Greek for the second coming, they do differ somewhat from the LDS view. Unlike LDS docrine, which says the second coming has been foretold, Catholics do not know when it will come.

'Who knows, maybe he is here right now, we ought to treat everyone as if he was Jesus Christ in person,' said Father Charles T. Cummings, Newman Center director.

He said people should live every day like it"s the last.

'If we live every day the best we can in our creator"s eyes, we don"t have to worry about the end of the world,' Cummings said. 'Fear will cripple us more than getting hit by a car.'

Doing what seems right

'I used to cry a lot more than I do now,' Freeborn said about the disbelief of others in regards to his visions.

In Parowan, he is well known by most of the town"s 2,500 residents for his visions and warnings to prepare.

Parowan Police Chief Wayne Townsend said Freeborn is an interesting member of the community.

'They [city council] may think his intentions are good, but they don"t take what he has to say to heart,' Townsend said of Freeborn"s warnings.

As visions come, Freeborn sits in his 127-year-old house and places information about what he has seen on the Internet for others. In his eyes, he has done all he can; it is up to individuals to prepare or perish.

'People don"t want to hear what I have to say because I've got a somber, sad message about the start of World War III and the destruction of 100 million people in the United States.' You can reach reporter Paul Garcia by calling 626-7621.