Editing Church Universal and Triumphant (section)

====Prophesying a nuclear strike====
The Mol Herron shelter was completed in early March, 1990.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=106}} Prophet began predicting that March 15, 1990 would be the day of the Soviet nuclear strike, claiming that the "karmic increase" would peak on that day.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=108-109}} Throughout the first half of March, CUT members began flocking to the Church's Montana properties in large numbers, attracting attention.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=111}} Growing media attention followed.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=2, 111, 114}}  On March 15, around 7000 CUT members entered the shelters,{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|p=176}} to begin what the church now calls the "shelter cycle".<ref name=Harnett-Failed-June-2024-56-7>{{cite magazine | title=The Prophet Who Failed |first=Emily |last=Harnett |magazine=Harper's|date=June 2024 |pages=56–7 |url=https://harpers.org/archive/2024/06/the-prophet-who-wasnt-after-the-apocalypse-that-failed-emily-harnett/ |access-date=30 July 2024 }}</ref> Many Church members, banking on their faith in Prophet, had quit their jobs, drained their bank accounts, sold their houses, furniture, cars, to buy survival supplies and flee to the compound.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=2}}

In her memoir, Prophet's daughter Erin writes that at first the mood of the followers underground was "jubilant",<ref name=Harnett-Failed-June-2024-58>{{cite magazine | title=The Prophet Who Failed |first=Emily |last=Harnett |magazine=Harper's|date=June 2024 |page=58 |url=https://harpers.org/archive/2024/06/the-prophet-who-wasnt-after-the-apocalypse-that-failed-emily-harnett/ |access-date=30 July 2024 }}</ref> but on the morning of March 16, many members left the shelters to find that the nuclear attack had not occurred. Many immediately reassessed their beliefs.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=2}}   About a third of the Church's members immediately broke from the group.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=2}}  By the second night underground, the mood among the followers was "tense, muted desperation". Gathering her closest followers, Elizabeth proclaimed it time to call down judgment upon America. Elizabeth herself, wielding a ceremonial sword, called on the archangel Michael to "let the bombs descend."<ref name=Harnett-Failed-June-2024-58/>

In the prophecy's aftermath, Prophet maintained that the nuclear attack had failed to materialise not because her original predictions were incorrect, but because the Church's prayers had led to divine intervention to avert the disaster.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=2}} Another explanation offered by the church (by minister Neroli Duffy) was that Prophet had never predicted the end of the world and the event had simply been a "drill".<ref name="legacy">{{cite news|last1=Flandro|first1=Carly|title=The legacy of Elizabeth Clare Prophet|url=http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/100/newsmakers/the-legacy-of-elizabeth-clare-prophet/article_03a800bc-d139-11e0-ab6a-001cc4c03286.html|access-date=May 31, 2017|work=Bozeman Daily Chronicle|date=August 28, 2011}}</ref>