Conspiracy theorists fear that Wednesday's Blood Moon could symbolize the end of the world as we know it.
The first total eclipse in two years will be visible from the Pacific Ocean, Asia, Australia and large parts of the Americas on May 26, according to the Daily Star.
The moon will take on a reddish color as predicted in the Bible, when the "terrible day of God" comes.
Belief in the natural phenomenon took on new life in 2013 when several Christian ministers suggested that the "tetrad" could bring about the end of the world.
According to John Hagee and Mark Blitz, the end of the world "tetrad" is a series of four eclipses that occur within the time frame of the Jewish holidays, with six full moons in between.
In 2013 Hagee predicted: "In these next two years, we will see something dramatic happen in the Middle East involving Israel that will change the course of history in the Middle East and affect the entire world."
Blitz adds: “All these signs, coming together at one time, are potentially the culminating signals that God is closing this chapter of human history.
"This may be the last curtain call before the Great Tribulation mentioned in the Bible. God always wanted to warn his people and the rest of the world before he intervened. What better way to communicate with us than through the universal language of heavenly signs that speak to every tribe, tongue and nation?”
The prophecy that inspired such ideas is when Peter quotes the prophet Joel 2: 30–31 saying: “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun will turn to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of God comes.
However, other conspiracy theorists argue that the Blood Moon was foretold by the Book of Revelations, which speaks of great earthquakes, the sun turning black and the moon "becoming like blood".
The moon's color change occurs due to an effect known as Rayleigh scattering which is caused by the moon entering the Earth's shadow during an eclipse.
Some light from the sun will reach the moon, but the sun's rays will be bent and scattered through the Earth's atmosphere, filtering out the green and violet bands of the visible spectrum.
This effect, which turns sunsets orange and skies blue, will make the moon appear red.
Claims by Hagee and Blitz that placed Israel and the Middle East at the center of the symbolic apocalypse have been refuted by astronomers, biblical scholars and theologians, reports Pakistan Today.
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