How we check, and what the stamps mean

How a file is written

Each file starts from a question a reader would ask. It opens with a short answer, walks through what happened in order, and ends with the sources. Where the evidence runs out, the file says so instead of filling the gap with guesses.

How we choose sources

We start with primary material: official documents, peer-reviewed papers, court and police records, reporting from the time, and the original text of books. Secondary coverage only fills in background. Wikipedia is a place to find leads, never the only source. Every file lists at least three independent sources.

What the stamps mean

Confirmed: the key facts are backed by reliable sources.

Debunked: the claim contradicts reliable evidence, or the people behind it admitted they made it up.

Disputed: there is some evidence, but not enough for a verdict, or leading researchers still disagree.

Unsolved: the case or event has no settled answer.

Did not happen: the date a prophecy named has passed and the predicted event did not occur.

Came true: the event happened when the prophecy said it would, and the prophecy can be shown to have been public before the event.

Fiction: the claim comes from a novel, a collaborative online fiction project or a mockumentary.

How we judge prophecies

A prophecy only enters the archive if we can find its original words and a date from before the event. “Prophecies” that surfaced after the fact, or vague lines with no date that were matched to events later, are noted in the file and never counted as fulfilled.

Updates and corrections

When new evidence appears, the file is updated and the end of the file notes the date and what changed. When we find a mistake, we correct it and say so.