Another year has come and gone, and with it, a slew of failed and forgotten psychic predictions. Each year, the world’s “leading” psychics give us their predictions in January, and then we review them one year later to see how accurate they were.

Before reviewing their track record for 2013, let’s consider a handful of significant news items that were not predicted.

What the world’s leading psychics didn’t predict for 2013:

The surprising resignation of Pope Benedict XVI…

The revelation of PRISM and the NSA spying scandal revealed by Ed Snowden, which is still arguably one of the biggest news stories of the year…

The meteor which exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, injuring 1,491 people and damaging over 4,300 buildings. It was the most powerful meteor to strike Earth’s atmosphere in over a century…

The Boston Marathon bombings…

Typhoon Haiyan “Yolanda”, one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record, which hit the Philippines and Vietnam, causing devastation with at least 5,653 dead…

Iran agreeing to limit their nuclear development program in exchange for sanctions relief…

William and Kate’s royal baby – a boy, named Prince George… (more details below)…

The Bronx train derailment…

The Rob Ford crack cocaine scandal, which was on just about every North American TV network…

The recovery of Amanda Berry, who was a 16-year-old girl when she went missing in 2003, and was rescued from an unassuming house in Cleveland. She was held captive for a decade. High-profile psychic (Sylvia Browne) told Berry’s mother in 2004 that she was dead.

Speaking of Sylvia Browne, she incorrectly predicted her own death. She thought she’d make it to 88, but died at 77.

death. She thought she’d make it to 88, but died at 77. A number of high profile deaths: Ed Koch, Hugo Chavez, Margaret Thatcher, Roger Ebert, Tom Clancy, Lou Reed, James Gandolfini, Cory Monteith, Jean Stapleton, Lisa Robin Kelly, Paul Walker, Nelson Mandela…

And that’s just a sample of the things psychics forgot to predict. Now let’s look at how well they fared for the things they did… *

What the world’s leading psychics predicted for 2013:

LAMONT HAMILTON

LaMont “Monte” Hamilton is an ordained minister, Reiki Master healing practitioner, registered hypnotherapist, and holds multiple degrees in business, psychology, and education, and has worked in the paranormal field full time for over 25 years.

Prince William and Kate will have a baby girl, whom many will believe is the reincarnation of Princess Diana. (They had a boy, and his name is George.)

At least 2 cosmic events will create news this year related to asteroids/comets headed to Earth, with the first one occurring around April when an object heads toward Earth. (Oh, so close. If only he wasn’t so specific! You see, the first one you could call a hit was the Chelyabinsk meteor and it occurred in February, not April. The second? Not sure if anything else could warrant the same level of media/press.)

Three airlines will merge into one Umbrella Company after another major carrier goes bankrupt in the U.S. (Not quite, but if we’re looking really hard for a hit, the merger between US Airways and American Airlines might almost qualify… but, a little bit of Googling reveals that this deal was no secret, even as far back as Sept 2012, when rumors began to bubble up through the media.)

A global U.N. tax will be enacted this year to help fund disaster relief and poverty. (As far as I could find, this wasn’t implemented, but was suggested several years ago, so it’s it seems Lamont was hoping it would come to fruition in 2013. But, no.)

A truce is seen in the Middle East before late summer after one or more spiritual leaders emerge in the region to bring stability to several countries now in conflict. (Considering there is always conflict in the Middle East, a truce is a fairly safe prediction. During the ongoing crisis in Syria, there was indeed a truce. But again, this is a pretty safe prediction.)

VICKI MONROE

This Maine-based psychic correctly predicted President Barack Obama winning a second term, the Red Sox missing the World Series, and the world not tanking on Dec. 21. (which was the easiest prediction ever made)

No New England Patriots in the Super Bowl and no Boston Red Sox in the World Series. (The Patriots were not in the Super Bowl… but wouldn’t it be much more useful to predict who would BE in the Super Bowl? She tried that same easy prediction for baseball but it backfired – the Boston Red Sox were not only in the world series, but they won it).

Expect an upset at the Academy Awards: Bradley Cooper for best actor over Daniel Day Lewis. Sally Field for best actress. Lincoln for best picture and Quentin Tarantino for best director. (No upset here – Daniel Day Lewis won for Best Actor. Sally Field lost to Jennifer Lawrence… Argo won Best Picture… Ang Lee won Best Director… 0/4 on the Oscar predictions.)

PSYCHIC NIKKI

In 2012, Nikki — “Psychic to the Stars” — predicted a pregnancy for Kate and Prince William, the split between Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise and the split of Katy Perry and Russell Brand, Meryl Streep’s Academy Award, the death of Whitney Houston (not true), Hurricane Sandy (also not true, no one did), and the passing of Dick Clark, Ernest Borgnine and Phyllis Diller. Here’s what she sees for 2013:

A fire and explosion at a subway in New York City kills many. (There was a fire, but no explosion, and no one was hurt. It was just really annoying for commuters.)

A chemical attack on the United States. (Thanksfully, this did not happen.)

Another cruise ship breaks in half. (Nice try here, but nope, didn’t happen.)

Another Super Storm like Sandy hitting the USA, Canada and Europe. (Did not happen. It would have been one helluva storm to hit both North America and Europe!)

Nuclear attack on New York. (Also, thankfully, this didn’t happen.)

A huge earthquake in the Caribbean. (Swing and a miss.)

Cuba and Puerto Rico becoming part of the USA. (Anyone know of another way of saying “didn’t happen”?)

A weather satellite will come crashing into a building. (A satellite did come down to Earth, but we’re not quite sure where it landed. Certainly not into a building.)

A huge earthquake in St. Louis, Missouri, Chicago and Tennessee. (No.)

The map of the world will change due to catastrophic events happening around the globe. (The map of the world looks the same.)

Experimental monkeys escape from a lab causing a pandemic. (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, perhaps? Oh wait, that movie came out in 2011.)

Giant prehistoric sea monsters under the sea. (Now, I wish this one panned out. The Kraken, Godzilla, or maybe C’thulu would have been pretty neat. Alas, no sea monsters in 2013. But the Godzilla reboot is due out in 2014 – does that count?)

A possible landing of a spaceship. (Made by humans or ET? Landing on Earth, or elsewhere?)

An attack on the Vatican and Pope. (Didn’t happen.)

Daniel Day Lewis nominated for an Oscar for Lincoln. (This was pretty obvious, so this doesn’t count as a hit.)

Jack Nicholson hospitalized. (He wasn’t, however the actor who played the doctor in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest died…)

Another sex scandal around Arnold Schwarzenegger and has to watch his health. (Just part of the ongoing scandal, but nothing that would qualify as another (separate) sex scandal.)

An earthquake of great magnitude wiping out Mexico City. (Did not…)

Giant tornadoes in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, California, Missouri, and Tennessee. (Like any year, many tornadoes – some “giant” – hit Tornado Alley. 2013 would be no different, so this is a non-prediction.)

An assassination attempt around Queen Elizabeth. (Unless if this was covered up, this didn’t happen.)

SIDNEY FRIEDMAN

Sidney “SidneySeer” Friedman claims a documented predictions accuracy of 71%, and a near 100% success rate with his Oscar predictions, missing only twice. His predictions have been covered by all the major television networks as well as hundreds of radio programs.

In a quasi shake-up, Jimmy Fallon is named host of NBC-TV’s Tonight Show, replacing Jay Leno. (This is true, Fallon will take over after the 2014 Olympics).

Apple announces and releases a “mini iPhone” geared toward children and also under-served populations around the world. Apple finally launches a “smart TV.” (Apple released the 5C which is not geared towards children – but is cheaper. They did not release the “smart TV”.)

A plague-like pandemic affects populations in Europe and to some extent in the USA. Much of it ironically occurs in hospitals. (There was no known pandemic in Europe or the USA, especially where one ironically occurred in hospitals.)

JUDY HEVENLY

Judy Hevenly is a teacher, astrologer, and writer, whose forecasts have appeared in many publications and newspapers worldwide. Her clientele includes royalty, former presidents, Hollywood movie stars, and heads of state. Judy was also called in to work at the O.J. Simpson trial. She is featured in the book, The 100 Top Psychics in America.

Tim Tebow gets offer to play in Canadian Football League. (Though it was actually discussed on sports networks, Tebow was not offered to play in the CFL.)

Meditation proves to be the gateway to contact loved ones on the other side. (This is shockingly true! Nah, it’s not.)

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist shot by members of the Taliban for arguing for equal education for girls in Pakistan, receives the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize for standing up for girls’ education in her country. (Actually, the Nobel Peace Prize 2013 was awarded to Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons “for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons”).

Major wildfires in Canada. (Wildfires are common during the dry season, but why not predict the rare flood that devastated Alberta in 2013?)

Earthquakes felt in California, New Zealand and Japan at magnitudes 5.7 to 6.2. (More moderately sized earthquakes in the Pacific Ring of Fire? It can’t be! She may as well have predicted that there will be rain in the Amazonian rainforest.)

BLAIR ROBERTSON

His past predictions include the Japanese 8.9 earthquake and tsunami, Whitney Houston ‘s death, sinking of the Costa Concordia, the train fire in India, William and Kate’s pregnancy, accurately predicting the Oscars, and more. The Washington Times called him their “favorite prognosticator.”

A boxer will be killed in the ring (or die shortly thereafter) within the year. (Which boxer? Boxers die all the time. Be specific.)

Rihanna and Chris Brown will get engaged. (So I guess they did get engaged but may or may not be together or something. It doesn’t matter and nobody should be concerned. Sorry to be dismissive, but it’s tough doing research through tabloid clutter.)

Watch for news of a propane tank explosion on the east coast of the US that destroys a “complex.” (There were two notable propane manufacturer explosions, one in Florida (east coast) and one in Texas (not east coast) – neither destroyed the complex. There was, however, a fertilizer plant that had a massive explosion in which did destroy a complex.

Fewer tornadoes for the USA, but those that do hit will be much more devastating in their power. A possible large one for western Ontario in late April. (Seems to be a conflict with Psychic Nikki, but anyways… there were many tornadoes, so what exactly does “fewer” mean? 10% less? 50% less than average? There was, in fact, a tornado in Ontario on April 18th. But to be fair, the 18th is hardly “late” April.)

A breast cancer breakthrough. (There’s always advances in cancer research. Perhaps Blair is referring to Anjelina Jolie’s revelation?)

There will be an unusual amount of people reporting that their diabetes has disappeared. I don’t know if this is a “breakthrough,” but it will puzzle the medical profession. (No reliable evidence could be found for this – it seems anecdotal. In fact, the number of people with diabetes is rising. “I know of no other disease that’s increasing at (about) 8% per year,” said Dr. John Anderson, president of medicine and science for the American Diabetes Association. “That to me isn’t surprising, it’s troubling.”)

2013 will see the passing of a number of former world heads of state as well as their spouses. (There are 196 countries in the world, each with a head of state and about as many with spouses. So that’s roughly 392 people. Isn’t it safe to assume that a few will pass away during any given year?)

Watch for news of mine disaster in China within 3 months. Many deaths. (There was a mining disaster in China with many deaths… however, a little research shows that there are several mining disasters almost every year. 2013 had 4; 2012 had 2; 2010 had 5; 2009 had 10. It was a pretty safe bet that 2013 would have at least one.)

Worldwide, we will see more mysterious mass bird deaths and tens of thousands of fish washing up on shore throughout the year. Conspiracy theories will abound. (Difficult to find reliable evidence for this either way, but the media loves mass animal deaths and so it’s no surprise that they are reported at every opportunity. It’s also no surprise that conspiracy theorist try to “explain” each of them in the ways that they do.)

CRAIG AND JANE HAMILTON- PARKER

This U.K. based psychic couple “scored many hits” with their 2012 predictions. Here’s what they forecast for 2013:

In the early part of 2013 – possibly January of February – there will be war in the Middle East. Israel with strike Iran with a full on attack at its nuclear program but fail to destroy some of the more heavily entrenched facilities leaving quantities of uranium available for dirty bombs. The Israeli/Iranian conflict will escalate and conflicts will spill over to Syria. (The prediction was way off, especially since the Iran nuclear deal was reached in Geneva. The conflict between Iran and Israel remains, however it doesn’t appear to have spilled into Syria.)

2013 is going to be another tough years with continued financial troubles and escalating world conflicts but despite many world problems 2013 will be the start of a growing spirituality throughout the world. (This prediction is vague and worthless. There’s always going to be world conflicts and financial instability in some part of the world. As for growing spirituality… what does that even mean? Nothing.)

THE AMAZING KRESKIN

The Amazing Kreskin has, for some six decades, dramatized the unique facets of the human mind…his own. His very name has become an integral part of pop culture throughout the world, invoked in comedy clubs, comic strips, print stories, and TV shows from sitcoms on through national magazines.

The biggest movie stars will come cheap because Hollywood is in big trouble. Much movie making will move to India. (It doesn’t take a psychic to see the rise of Bollywood, but to there’s no real indication that Hollywood is moving its productions to India – unlike Hollywood North, where it was cheaper to film in cities like Toronto, Canada.)

The return of the gossip columnist — from people on the street. (What does this even mean? Bloggers? The rise of the independent freelancer?)

College students will find it harder and harder to find jobs. (This has always been an issue, and is so vague, it’s not worth addressing much more than this.)

Families will rediscover the family dinner table. (How do you measure this? If anything people are noting that the opposite is happening, with ubiquity of smart phones. This is a worthless prediction.)

It seems like you don’t like psychics. What gives?

The Psychic “industry” is worth about 2 billion dollars, growing 2% per year, with almost 80,000 businesses in the field (almost equal to the number of employees, so probably safe to assume that many are individual psychics). That’s a whole lot of people who are claiming to know about a whole lot of things.

And yet, psychics don’t have any real advantage over everyone else in society (other than being pretty good at cold reading). You don’t see psychics ruling the world, winning the lottery, solving impossible crimes… They don’t provide any real value to those who seek them, and more often than not, their agenda is financial.

Some legitimately believe in their powers – perhaps blinded by faith and hope. Others willfully lie, cheat, take advantage, and provide false hope to their victims – who are often those who need the most help.

Additional Sources and Notes:

* Disclosure: For the sake of brevity and keeping the article relatively interesting, some predictions were omitted. In addition, predictions that were very specific to a country outside of North America where it was difficult to verify whether it was true or false, were also omitted. Since their result – positive or negative – could not be confirmed, it didn’t make sense to include them in the article. For those wishing to see the complete list predictions, you can review the sources below.

http://metronews.ca/features/2013-whats-in-store/488929/psychic-predictions-for-2013-gaze-deep-into-our-crystal-ball/

http://www.examiner.com/article/psychic-nikki-offers-up-her-2013-predictions-part-2-of-3

http://paranormal.about.com/od/prophetsandprophecies/tp/Psychic-Predictions-For-2013.htm