Why Did Chen Tao Keep Waiting?

Introduction

After Chen Tao’s highly publicised 1998 prophecy in Garland, Texas failed, the movement did not react as a single body. While leader Hon-Ming Chen acknowledged that he had misunderstood God’s intentions and many followers left, a smaller remnant chose a different path. Rather than abandoning the underlying worldview, they relocated to Lockport, New York, and reworked the prophecy around a new sequence of catastrophe and rescue. This episode is important because it illustrates a classic pattern in failed UFO-related predictions: the leader’s public retreat did not automatically end belief among all followers. Instead, a committed minority preserved expectation by revising how and when salvation would occur.[Wikipedia]wikipedia.orgChen Tao (UFO religionChen Tao (UFO religion

Who Left Garland and Who Continued

The most striking feature of the post-Garland period was not unanimous recommitment but fragmentation. Contemporary accounts indicate that roughly two-thirds of the membership abandoned the movement after the predicted divine manifestations of March 1998 failed to occur. Visa issues forced some members to return to Taiwan, while others simply concluded that Chen’s prophetic authority had been damaged beyond repair.[Wikipedia]wikipedia.orgChen Tao (UFO religionChen Tao (UFO religion

Yet a significant minority remained loyal. Research conducted by scholars who followed the group after the failed prophecy found that not all remaining members interpreted the failure in the same way. Some expressed disappointment with Chen’s date-setting but continued to believe that a coming global tribulation was real. Others treated the failed prediction as a misunderstanding of timing rather than evidence that the broader cosmology was false.[Academia]academia.eduThe group's symbiotic relationship with mass media…Read more…

This distinction matters. The surviving core did not simply deny that March 1998 had failed. Instead, many separated the mistaken timetable from the larger narrative of divine intervention, extraterrestrial technology, and imminent world crisis. That interpretive move created the conditions for the Lockport remnant to continue.[Academia]academia.eduThe group's symbiotic relationship with mass media…Read more…

How the New York Prophecy Changed the Story

After Garland, the remaining believers relocated to Lockport in western New York. The move itself reflected a broader shift in emphasis. Rather than focusing on a specific televised appearance of God followed by a manifestation in Texas, the remnant increasingly framed the future around geopolitical catastrophe and selective rescue.[Wikipedia]wikipedia.orgChen Tao (UFO religionChen Tao (UFO religion

According to multiple accounts, the Lockport group began teaching that a war between China and Taiwan would trigger a nuclear holocaust. The destruction would be immense, but it would not be the end of the story. Members expected divine intervention through what they described as a “God plane” or heavenly craft that would rescue the faithful from the disaster. Initially, this scenario was connected to expectations for 1999, though the timetable was later revised when events failed to unfold as anticipated.[Wikipedia]wikipedia.orgChen Tao (UFO religionChen Tao (UFO religion

This revised prophecy differed from the Garland prediction in several important ways:

• The focus shifted from immediate public verification to future catastrophe. Instead of a date on which television viewers could observe God, the new scenario depended on a chain of future events.
• Rescue remained central. UFO-related salvation themes survived even after the original prediction failed.
• The timeline became more flexible. When 1999 passed without fulfilment, the expectation could be postponed rather than decisively tested on a single day.[Wikipedia]wikipedia.orgChen Tao (UFO religionChen Tao (UFO religion

The Lockport phase therefore represented more than a simple continuation of the old prophecy. It was a reformulation that reduced vulnerability to another immediate public failure while preserving the movement’s core promise of survival and divine deliverance.[Wikipedia]wikipedia.orgChen Tao (UFO religionChen Tao (UFO religion

Why Some Believers Kept Waiting

Evidence from researchers who interviewed members around the transition from Garland to Lockport suggests that failed prophecy did not affect all followers equally. Some members viewed the dramatic media attention surrounding the March 1998 events as reinforcing rather than undermining the significance of the prophecy. Others accepted that Chen had made mistakes while continuing to trust his broader spiritual insights.[Academia]academia.eduThe group's symbiotic relationship with mass media…Read more…

Importantly, belief in an approaching “Great Tribulation” often survived even when confidence in a particular date weakened. In practice, this meant that disappointment with one prediction did not necessarily erase commitment to the larger narrative. Followers could preserve faith by concluding that the timing had been wrong, the revelation incomplete, or the divine plan misunderstood.[Academia]academia.eduThe group's symbiotic relationship with mass media…Read more…

The Lockport remnant therefore demonstrates that reinterpretation can occur without complete denial of failure. Members were not necessarily claiming that March 1998 had happened exactly as predicted. Instead, they integrated the failure into a revised framework that still pointed toward future vindication.[Wikipedia]wikipedia.orgChen Tao (UFO religionChen Tao (UFO religion

What the Remnant Reveals About Reinterpretation

Within the broader history of failed UFO-related predictions, Chen Tao’s Lockport remnant is notable because it shows a middle path between total collapse and complete reaffirmation. The movement did not emerge stronger than before; membership shrank dramatically, and many followers left. At the same time, the failure did not eliminate belief among everyone who remained.[Wikipedia]wikipedia.orgChen Tao (UFO religionChen Tao (UFO religion

The Lockport case highlights three recurring features of believer reinterpretation:

1. Selective retention of beliefs. Followers may abandon a specific prediction while preserving the larger worldview.
2. Replacement of failed dates with new scenarios. A disconfirmed event can be absorbed into a revised prophetic narrative.

1. Survival through a committed minority. Even when most members leave, a smaller remnant can carry the movement forward. Wikipedia

For the study of failed UFO prophecies, the significance of Lockport lies precisely in this divergence between leader and followers. Chen publicly admitted error regarding the Garland prediction, but a core group continued to wait. Their move to New York and their renewed expectations of catastrophe followed by supernatural rescue provide a concrete example of how prophetic belief can persist after a visible public failure. Wikipedia+2D-NB

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Endnotes

2. Source: d-nb.info
Link:https://d-nb.info/1115332651/34

3. Source: academia.edu
Link:https://www.academia.edu/30227664/Chen_Tao_and_the_Mass_Mediation_Of_Prophetic_End_time_Dating

4. Source: Wikipedia
Title: Chen tao (secta)
Link:https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_tao_%28secta%29

5. Source: Wikipedia
Title: Chen (singer)
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_%28singer%29

6. Source: Wikipedia
Title: Chen (surname)
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_%28surname%29

7. Source: britannica.com
Title: Chen Tao
Link:https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chen-Tao

Published: May 2026

8. Source: fisita.org
Title: Chen Tao
Link:https://www.fisita.org/directory/people/chen-tao

9. Source: music.apple.com
Link:https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/chen/902290176

Additional References

10. Source: merriam-webster.com
Link:https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Chen

11. Source: cesnur.org
Link:https://www.cesnur.org/testi/bryn/chen_cook.htm

12. Source: find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk
Link:https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/16564568/persons-with-significant-control

13. Source: youtube.com
Title: God’s Salvation Church
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nGLzE-vA18

14. Source: brill.com
Title: B9789004222687 s009
Link:https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004222687/B9789004222687-s009.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOorztO58C762PKN8w5cw-oDSKIJbGmMZlTO1isxIJdLNVgmK-t-2

15. Source: open.spotify.com
Title: 0UEP2XBR9a C5NBKc AKn BIq
Link:https://open.spotify.com/artist/0UEP2XBR9aC5NBKcAKnBIq

16. Source: youtube.com
Title: USA: TAIWANESE CULT DISAPPOINTED AT GOD’S FAILURE TO APPEAR ON TV
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPyWo4Ei5vU

17. Source: youtube.com
Title: When the World Didn’t End: 10 Doomsday Cults That Got It Totally Wrong!
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp-9m8kTT6g

18. Source: clpgroup.com
Title: Chen Tao Roger
Link:https://www.clpgroup.com/en/about/overview/our-leadership/Chen-Tao-Roger.html

19. Source: cultencyclopedia.com
Title: chen tao 1993
Link:https://cultencyclopedia.com/2025/09/08/chen-tao-1993/

Published: March 31, 1998