This Sunday night will bring a "blood moon" or "supermoon," a rare cosmic event where the moon takes on a copper color during an eclipse. While scientists say such a celestial occurrences are part of a natural cycle, some, like Pastor John Hagee of San Antonio, believe they are a clear sign of the end times.
Sunday's supermoon will mark the conclusion of the ongoing "Tetrad" of blood moons, which began on April 15 last year, followed by another red-colored lunar eclipse on October 8 last year, and a third on April 4 this year. The next supermoon lunar eclipse will not be seen until 2033.
Hagee, who authored the New York Times bestsellers "Four Blood Moons" and "The Three Heavens", says the blood moon "points to a world-shaking event that would happen between April 2014 and October 2015."
Related: Is Blood Moon a Sign of The End Times? Theories and Dates
Arguing that there are no solar or lunar accidents, Hagee contends that this "exceptional celestial alignment is consistent with biblical prophecy and with God's unfolding message to humankind." In defending his stance, Hagee cites Joel 2:30-31, which reads, "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord."
"God is trying to tell us something!" he writes in a press release made available to the Gospel Herald. He says that the four latest Tetrads are particularly significant because they have coincided with significant historical events for Israel.
"Tetrads linked to the Feasts of the Lord and significant Jewish history have taken place only three times in more than 500 years," notes the press release. "The Tetrad of 2014-2015 is the fourth and the last of this kind in the 21st century. Rarely do Scripture, science and historical events align; yet the current 'four blood moons' have fallen on the Jewish holy days of Passover 2014, Sukkot 2014, Passover 2015 and now Sukkot 2015."
Hagee notes that the final blood moon comes as a nuclear deal is being finalized with Iran - an agreement some fear could lead to Israel's destruction.
"I have said it many times and I say it again: the day America turns its back on Israel will be the day God turns his back on America," he told CBN in a recent interview. "And the day we validate this Iran nuclear deal as signed, sealed and delivered, will be the day we stick our finger in the eye of God."
"The evidence is very clear scripturally that God controls the sun, moon and stars," he added. "And that God is sending us a signal through the sun, the moon and the stars. The question is, are we listening?"
Despite Hagee's claims, the National Aeronautics and Space Agency assures people that there is no celestial evidence that an asteroid will hit Earth on the days of the blood moon.
"There is no existing evidence that an asteroid or any other celestial object is on a trajectory that will impact Earth," said Paul Chodas, of NASA's Near-Earth Object office. "In fact, not a single one of the known objects has any credible chance of hitting our planet over the next century. There is no scientific basis, not one shred of evidence, that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates."
Instead of living in fear of the unknown, NASA is encouraging people to enjoy this rare cosmic event: "It's a beautiful sight in the nighttime sky," Mark Hammergren, an astronomer at Chicago's Adler Planetarium told CNN. "It's a way of connecting us to the universe at large. It gives us this view that there's a bigger picture than just what we're concerned with in our daily lives."
For the best places and times to view the supermoon lunar eclipse of September 27-28, click here. NASA TV will also have live eclipse coverage for those who want to watch the rare event from the comfort of their homes.
