UPDATE: Sedona Vortex Jumper Peter Gersten Wanders Home After Vortex Fails to Open
The man who has been planning on taking a "leap of faith" off Bell Rock in Sedona today is out there waiting for his "portal" to open, but it does not appear that he plans on blindly jumping off the tall rock.
Despite the fact that Gersten previously acknowledged many people would think his December 21 prophecy would end in his death, it seems that Gersten has changed his tune a bit.
See also:
-Sedona Man Plans to Jump Off Tall Rock on December 21, Believes He'll Land in Portal
As you can imagine, the authorities are aware of what Gersten's said, and they're monitoring what he's up to.
Yavapai County Sheriff's Office spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn tells New Times that Gersten told deputies he would only "jump" if a vortex opened above Bell Rock.
We're in Phoenix, but D'Evelyn confirmed at noon that there's no vortex opening above Bell Rock at the moment, although a lot of people are out there watching.
"The Forest Service is monitoring his activity," D'Evelyn says.
Compare that with Gersten's original explanation.
"On the Winter Solstice of 2012 at exactly 11:11 UT a cosmic portal will open in Sedona Arizona and a leap of faith - from the top of Bell Rock - will propel me through its opening," he wrote.
It's past 19:00 UT at the time of this post. Additionally, his YouTube account has been set to "private," and his website doesn't appear to be working.
A couple months ago, Gersten told us in an e-mail, "I will be on the top of Bell Rock on 12-21-2012 from at least 11:00 am to either midnight or the manifestation of an extraordinary event - whichever comes first."
The point is, it's not exactly clear if Gersten knows what he's doing out at Bell Rock today, but he's told the authorities he's not jumping unless his portal or vortex opens.
If authorities near Sedona report a splat, we'll let you know.
