Blood Moon 2014, Date: Start Time Set for Early Morning October 8; Doomsday Prophecies Up in the Air

A rare celestial event will be visible in most parts of North America early morning of October 8, 2014. A total lunar eclipse, also called the "Blood Moon", will be visible for everyone to see.

The Blood Moon event has sparked a flood of doomsday prophecies to appear online, with some claiming the event will be a sign of the End of Days.

The theories are based on the fact that this Blood Moon will be the second in the "tetrad". This "tetrad", some say, signifies that the end of times may be approaching. The term refers to "four consecutive lunar eclipses with six full moons in between", according to The Epoch Times.

The doomsday prophecies were initiated by Christian Pastor John Hagee, who suggested that the blood moon may signify an impending apocalypse. The whole idea was fuelled by a passage from the Book of Joel, which says, "The sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."

However, NASA dismissed the theories.

In an interview with St Louis Jewishlight, Jewish observant and NASA scientist Jeremy Schnittman said, "Every night when you go outside on the first night of Sukkot, it is going to be a full moon. And every lunar eclipse happens during a full moon. On average there are two lunar eclipses every year. The chance of having a lunar eclipse on Sukkot is one in six."

"If there's one on Sukkot, then there's a very high chance that there will be one on Pesach. There's been a lot of hubbub about 'Four Blood Moons' in a row. It's actually quite reasonable that you are going to get them again every six months for the next couple of years before the cycle moves a little bit out of alignment", he added.