By Becky Gillette – Catherine Reed is known around town as a musical entertainer whose style has been compared to James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. She has also worked as an EMT and a firefighter, and has twice built a home with her own labor. She and her partner, Cathy Simmons, have installed 18 solar panels at their home in the country.
You might say this couple is really into the sun. In addition to generating power from the sun, Reed and Simmons are two of the founders of a Disaster Prediction App by Suspicious Observers, available now on iTunes for $2.99, that they say can be used to predict earthquakes and weather disasters related to fluctuation in the sun’s electromagnetic fields.
Reed has always been a science buff. The interest in the Disaster Prediction App began after she got tired of spending time on the Internet trying to learn things about Earth and getting “wild and crazy disaster predictions.” She was intrigued by the science being developed that links sun activity to earthquakes and weather-related disasters. Data about solar flares, geomagnetic storms and sunspots collected by satellites observing the sun is now readily available. The Disaster Prediction App correlates sun activity to weather and earthquakes on Earth.
“We are now at the frontier of space weather and how it affects weather on Earth,” Reed said. “Space weather has a very interesting educational aspect to it. It was obvious the other websites I went to were just click bait. I wanted something valid and interesting. Thanks to satellites we have out there, we have new information every day about what the sun does and how it affects our weather. Ben Davidson and a few NASA scientists have figured out how the sun affects larger earthquakes. Davidson has developed a way to run the information through a computer to come up with predictions. His record is becoming more and more accurate daily.”
According to preview information about the app on iTunes, “The Disaster Prediction App will show you the current state of the sun, its effects on Earth, earthquake events, and areas of the earth likely to have large earthquakes. There is a space weather portion and an Earthquake portion of the app. The space weather portion includes alerts for when to pay attention, but most important, this is your in-hand warning system if the sun ever decides to really rock-and-roll. If we are about to take the big storm that changes the world forever, you’ll know about it beforehand.
“The earthquake portion of this app is based on daily observations of a correlation that exists between certain solar phenomena and seismic activity. Our earthquake forecasting model has been able to forecast the location of large earthquake events on five different continents.”
Reed understands that people are skeptical. There are a lot of bogus conspiracy theories out there. But she has won some bets with locals who said there was no way the app could predict earthquakes of a magnitude 6.0 or more.
“As a member of Suspicious Observers, I’ve been able to get a rational view of all this and been able to differentiate between the outrageous and the possible,” Reed said. “It is interesting that when we have a hit, when the app has successfully predicted an earthquake, I feel joyous. But at the same time, I know the earthquake has caused serious damage and pain.”
Reed and Simpson initially got interested by attending an Observing the Frontier Conference in Phoenix last winter. That brought together many different types of science specialists.
“The problem with science today is that different types of scientists are not talking to each other,” Reed said. “Meteorologists aren’t talking to solar scientists, geologists or climate change scientists. Most scientists are funded by grants, and they are not allowed to step outside their realm and collaborate. You have communities like Electric Universe where all these different scientists talk to each other and share information. There are more and more scientific papers being written every day about this. We are learning fast and furiously that space weather affects the Earth. “
Reed said there were about 1,900 people involved at various financial levels in developing the app. The number of members of Suspicious Observers (suspiciousobservers.org) continues to grow rapidly, and now is at 280,000.
Reed said the sun goes through 11-year cycles and just ended a cycle of maximum sunspots, so is now sun entering an 11-year cycle of minimal sunspots. Sunspots are electromagnetic energy that can affect the Earth.
“We have a magnetic field around our planet,” she said. “When the sun spews out solar wind or plasma, and it hits the Earth, it affects the earth’s magnetic fields. Geomagnetic storms are when we get hit with a lot of the sun’s energy. It can interrupt our electric grids, the ability of airports to operate radar equipment, and ability to communicate. We even get cardio events because the heart is electromagnetic. This app can warn people of issues.
“The app can tell you about the coronal holes in the sun. When they face the Earth, it can affect the fault lines on the planet because it is an electrical exchange of energy. Energy comes from the sun through the atmosphere where it penetrates the Earth and goes down into the lower layers. Depending on where that happens, you can get a 6-point or greater magnitude earthquake. Davidson has figured out you can figure out where the quake will be by the outgoing long-wave radiation readings. He has been able to predict locations within a 48- to 72-hour time period.”
Someone watching Reed perform might be surprised at the passion she has for weather. “It doesn’t have anything to do with my musical career except musicians also have an interest in mathematics,” she said. “I love weather as much as I love anything else. The science of weather, geology, meteorology and music all have a place in my head. I like understanding new innovative things that better our planet.”
Reed said anyone interested in more information should visit spaceweathernews.com.