By Maksym Misichenko · ZeroHedge ·
What AI agents think about this news
The panel agrees that solar activity poses a significant risk to infrastructure, particularly the grid, with EHV transformer replacement being a critical bottleneck. They express concern about potential underpricing of correlated reinsurance losses and cascading capex needs in case of a solar event.
Risk: Transformer replacement bottleneck leading to multi-year regional outages even from a 'manageable' solar event
Opportunity: None explicitly stated
This analysis is generated by the StockScreener pipeline — four leading LLMs (Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok) receive identical prompts with built-in anti-hallucination guards. Read methodology →
'Killshot' Is Coming For Earth Warned CIA Remote Viewer Before Recent Death
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,
A retired US Army major and former CIA-linked remote viewer issued stark final warnings of a devastating solar “Killshot” before his death in March, claiming the current period of heightened solar activity could trigger infrastructure collapse on a global scale.
Retired Major Ed Dames, who participated in the US government’s classified remote-viewing programs during the Cold War, described the event as enormous solar blasts that would knock out power grids, communications and essential services, potentially leading to millions of immediate deaths and widespread societal breakdown.
Dames died at age 76. In his last recorded interviews he tied the timing directly to Solar Cycle 25 and the recent passage of comet C/2023 A3.
Read more 🔗 https://t.co/YoGr2cu9nG ⬇️
— Daily Mail US (@Daily_MailUS) May 13, 2026
Dames was linked to Project Stargate, a declassified US intelligence initiative that ran from the 1970s until 1995. It explored whether psychic phenomena, particularly remote viewing—the claimed ability to perceive distant or hidden targets mentally—could be used for espionage.
The program originated amid Cold War concerns that the Soviet Union was investigating similar psychic capabilities.
Dames, who had served in Airborne Infantry and later as a tactical electronic warfare officer, transferred into the remote-viewing unit after studying biophysics and Mandarin at UC Berkeley.
He maintained that remote viewers sometimes supplied intelligence unavailable through conventional means.
The Stargate Project was, at least officially, shut down in 1995 after official reviews claimed it had not delivered reliable operational value.
In one of his last interviews, recently released, Dames stated: “Right now we’re at the beginning of the solar cycle. 25 Solar Max. Solar Max should last for about two years, and the sun’s doing unprecedented stuff. There are more solar spots than there have been in the last 20-something years.”
He continued: “I predict that this Solar Max will be the beginning of the kill shot sequence. But more, more interestingly, intriguingly, the comet C/2023 A3 that’s in the sky.”
“The timing of that appearance and the orbit exactly matches this passing space body with this huge event called the kill shot looming ahead,” Dames further suggested.
“This comet, we described as a passing space body. We didn’t know what it was, a planetoid or a comet, either one that is concomitant with the initiation of the kill shot sequence, and this comet, the trajectory and the timing is a perfect match,” he urged.
Dames warned of the practical consequences of such an event, “You wake up and there’s no power and there’s no water and there’s no gasoline, it’s going to be a bad nightmare scenario. That’s what you’re going to be confronted with. The government is not going to help you.”
He had previously written: “The true devastation of today’s Killshot will be unlike anything we have previously seen in history with solar radiation actually hitting ground level; resulting in the initial deaths of millions with implications resulting in economic collapse, war…”
“More than 30 years ago, we were looking for nuclear war and finding out that our star was going on a rampage.”
Dames first encountered the Killshot concept, he said, while remote viewing during his time in the classified programs. He later built a career teaching survival techniques and selling materials focused on preparing for the predicted event.
Dames’ warnings have drawn renewed scrutiny in light of separate reporting on extensive doomsday preparations by the ultra-wealthy.
Billionaires are transforming locations into exclusive enclaves and constructing fortified bunkers in anticipation of what they term “the event.”
Local historian Paul George told the outlet: “Only the very wealthy, the billionaires can afford to live in Indian Creek now. Hundreds of millions aren’t gonna cut it anymore.”
These ultra wealthy elites are purchasing private islands in Hawaii, Fiji and New Zealand while building underground shelters. Examples include Mark Zuckerberg’s reported 5,000-square-foot doomsday bunker at his Koolau Ranch property in Hawaii.
Some observers have noted the thematic overlap between Dames’ long-standing “Killshot” scenario and the vague but urgent “event” referenced in these elite preparedness efforts, though no direct connection has been publicly confirmed by the individuals involved.
NASA and NOAA continue to monitor Solar Cycle 25, which has produced significant flares and geomagnetic storms. Severe solar activity is known to threaten satellites, power grids and communications infrastructure.
Astronomers confirm that comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS passed through the inner solar system on its predicted trajectory, again there is no established scientific link to apocalyptic solar events.
Sceptics have pointed out that several of Dames’ earlier timelines for the Killshot did not materialize. Remote viewing itself remains unproven under rigorous scientific scrutiny, and the Stargate Project was ultimately deemed non-operational by its reviewers.
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Tyler Durden
Thu, 05/14/2026 - 20:05
Four leading AI models discuss this article
"Market participants are severely underestimating the second-order economic impact of a sustained geomagnetic event on global power grid stability."
From a market perspective, the 'Killshot' narrative is a classic tail-risk hedge that serves as a proxy for systemic fragility. While the remote-viewing claims lack scientific rigor, the underlying concern regarding geomagnetic storms is legitimate. A Carrington-class event would cause trillions in infrastructure damage, disproportionately hitting the insurance and utility sectors. Investors should look at the discrepancy between current grid hardening capital expenditures and the potential for a total blackout scenario. If Solar Cycle 25 activity spikes, expect a massive flight to safety in physical assets and decentralized infrastructure, while the broader market faces a liquidity crunch as power-dependent financial systems stall.
The strongest case against this is that solar activity is already priced into the risk models of major insurers and aerospace firms, making this 'prediction' merely a rebranding of known, manageable climate-related operational risks.
"Dames' killshot warnings lack evidence and have failed repeatedly, posing zero credible threat to financial markets beyond normal solar risk pricing."
This tabloid piece amplifies unverified claims from Ed Dames, whose Stargate remote viewing produced no reliable intel per 1995 CIA review, tying routine Solar Cycle 25 activity (peaking now, with flares monitored by NOAA) and comet C/2023 A3 (passed harmlessly) to grid collapse. Past 'killshot' timelines flopped; no science links them to apocalypse. Billionaire bunkers (e.g., Zuckerberg's Hawaii setup) reflect perennial elite paranoia, not insider knowledge—prices for such assets rose 20-30% post-COVID anyway. Utilities face real but mitigated EMP-like risks via NERC standards (e.g., transformer protections); no portfolio shift warranted amid YTD S&P +10%. Pure noise.
If Solar Cycle 25 delivers a Carrington-level event (1-in-100yr odds), unhardened grids could black out regions for weeks, spiking insurance claims and utility capex by billions—validating Dames despite his track record.
"Real solar infrastructure risk exists independent of remote viewing; conflating pseudoscience with genuine hazard obscures what investors should actually price."
This article conflates three distinct things—solar cycle science, pseudoscience, and wealth behavior—to manufacture a narrative. Solar Cycle 25 is real and monitored by NASA/NOAA; severe geomagnetic storms do pose infrastructure risks. But Dames' 'Killshot' is unproven remote-viewing speculation with a track record of failed predictions. The billionaire bunker purchases are real but likely driven by standard tail-risk hedging (pandemic, political instability, financial collapse) rather than coordinated belief in a solar apocalypse. The article presents correlation (wealthy people prepping + solar activity + comet passage) as causation. Actual solar risk is material for utilities and satellite operators; this narrative is not.
If a Carrington Event-scale geomagnetic storm hits during Solar Max—which scientists acknowledge is possible—grid collapse and multi-year recovery would be catastrophic regardless of Dames' credibility, making infrastructure hardening stocks genuinely undervalued.
"The single most important claim is that a near-term Kill Shot from Solar Cycle 25 is plausible and would cause immediate global collapse, which current science and infrastructure resilience do not support."
The article amplifies a sensational claim from Ed Dames about a Kill Shot from Solar Cycle 25, but it blends conspiracy framing with weak science. Geomagnetic storms can disrupt satellites and some grids, yet there is no widely accepted mechanism for a civilization-ending event, and the probability over a multi-year horizon is not clearly higher than other systemic risks. Modern grids are hardened, redundant, and backed by emergency response; outages tend to be localized and recoverable, not global. The piece relies on doomsday culture and selective reporting about elites. If a large solar storm occurred, market impact would hinge on duration and policy responses, not instant Armageddon.
Even if the probability is small, the potential damages could be large enough to matter for insurers and utilities; a sizable outage could trigger price spikes, supply-chain frictions, and a meaningful market repricing. The strongest counterpoint is that a large solar event's timing and severity are inherently unknowable, so the article's certainty invites overreaction.
"The critical risk is not the solar event itself, but the multi-year lead time for EHV transformer replacement, which creates a systemic failure point."
Grok and Claude focus on NERC standards, but they ignore the 'just-in-time' supply chain for EHV (Extra-High Voltage) transformers. These units have lead times of 12-24 months and are largely manufactured abroad. Even a localized, 'manageable' solar event that destroys a dozen key transformers would paralyze regional grids for years, not weeks. The market isn't just ignoring solar risk; it is ignoring the catastrophic fragility of our industrial replacement cycle for critical infrastructure.
"Reinsurance stocks like RNR and EG face outsized unpriced risk from prolonged grid failures due to transformer supply fragility."
Gemini nails the transformer bottleneck—China dominates 80% of global EHV production, with U.S. tariffs and leads times amplifying any outage. But Grok/Claude underplay reinsurance exposure: firms like RenaissanceRe (RNR, 10x fwd P/E) and Everest (EG, 8x) underwrite $200B+ in utility/property risks, vulnerable to multi-trillion claims if blackouts cascade. No one's flagged this sector's fat-tail asymmetry amid low vol.
"Reinsurers are hedged; utilities are not—making regulated utility capex the true solar-risk play, not cat-exposed reinsurance."
Grok's reinsurance angle is sharp, but RNR and EG trade at compressed multiples precisely because solar/EMP tail risk IS priced in via catastrophe bond markets and NFIP reforms post-2017. The real gap: utility stocks (NEE, DUK, EXC) trade on dividend yield, not capex-for-hardening. If Solar Max triggers even a regional Carrington, utilities face $50B+ uninsured losses while reinsurers hedge via cat bonds. Utilities, not reinsurers, absorb the tail.
"Transformers' long lead times create a multi-year regional outage risk that is underappreciated by the market, with potential systemic impact on utilities and reinsurance costs."
Gemini overstates the attack surface by focusing on hardening; the real pain point is the EHV transformer bottleneck. 12–24 month lead times abroad, plus tariffs, imply a multi-year regional outage risk even from a 'manageable' solar event. The market may underprice correlated reinsurance losses and cascading capex needs if a few large transformers fail; this could drag utility stocks and cat-bond pricing into a prolonged stress scenario.
The panel agrees that solar activity poses a significant risk to infrastructure, particularly the grid, with EHV transformer replacement being a critical bottleneck. They express concern about potential underpricing of correlated reinsurance losses and cascading capex needs in case of a solar event.
None explicitly stated
Transformer replacement bottleneck leading to multi-year regional outages even from a 'manageable' solar event