Siri ‘Opening of Gates of Hades’ on Sunday July 27, 2014, Response Goes Viral

Siri ‘Opening of Gates of Hades’ on Sunday July 27, 2014, Response Goes Viral
Siri's response from an iPhone after asking it "what day is July 27, 2014?" on Dec. 19, 2013. (Benjamin Chasteen/Epoch Times)
Jack Phillips
12/19/2013
Updated:
7/18/2015

Apple’s iPhone assistant Siri sometimes gives an odd response about “opening [the] gates of Hades,” the Greek mythological term for Hell, or the underworld, when one asks what will happen on July 27th, according to reports. Several Epoch Times reporters got the response.

If you ask, “What is July 27,” then Siri will say “It’s Sunday, 27 July 2014 (Opening Gates Of Hades).”

Cult of Mac reported that if you reword the question to when the gates of hell are opening, Siri will say they already opened on May 14, 2005.

As the website notes, the odd apocalyptic responses are glitches in Apple’s Wolfram Alpha, which is the engine that drives Siri.

According to an Apple forum discussion, “Opening Gates of Hades” might be in reference to “Chinese Ghost Month.” But others speculated it has to do with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, where the gates of “heaven open and the gates of hell close.”

Chinese Ghost Month starts on the seventh month of the lunar year, and legends say both the gates of heaven and hell open.

A number of users shared Siri’s “Opening Gates Of Hades” message on Twitter and Facebook.

According to Cult of Mac, the May 14, 2005, response may have had to do with a New York City-area bar or club that opened up in 2005. It has since closed.

Several tests carried out Epoch Times reporters got a Wikipedia page response after asking Siri “what is July 27.” Another time, when it was asked “what is July 27, 2014,” Siri gave the response that it’s “Arbor Day.”

But two other Epoch Times staff members got the “Hades” response.

There were several YouTube videos uploaded about Siri’s response over the past day.

 

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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