A Los Angeles programmer has launched an online tool that monitors private jet activity around the world, arguing that unusual travel by the wealthy could serve as an early clue that a major crisis is unfolding.
According to the Daily Mail, programmer Kyle McDonald created the “Apocalypse Early Warning System” to track more than 31,000 private and business aircraft and compare current flight activity with historical patterns. The website assigns an alert level from one to five based on how unusual the number of aircraft in the air appears.
McDonald cautioned that the system is not designed to predict the end of the world.
“I created it after it became clear that insiders in the US government were making personal profits from information related to war plans,” he told the Daily Mail.
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The project grew out of his observations of increased private jet activity during heightened tensions involving Iran earlier this year. He said he also became interested after reading reports of large prediction-market wagers allegedly placed around the prospect of war.
The platform gathers publicly available information from the Federal Aviation Administration’s aircraft registry and ADS-B Exchange before comparing current activity with similar historical periods.
McDonald stressed that even the highest alert level should not be viewed as proof that billionaires are fleeing an impending disaster.
“Normal events can also produce short-lived surges,” the article noted, meaning any unusual increase should be considered alongside “news reports, financial activity and other publicly available signals.”
The website also estimates the maximum number of people the tracked aircraft could carry, though McDonald warns the figure is only a rough estimate.
For now, the project remains an experiment rather than a proven forecasting tool, with its creator describing it as another publicly available data point that observers can monitor during periods of geopolitical uncertainty.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
