A non-event is an event that is anticlimactic to the point at which it becomes easy to argue that it barely happened at all. Non-events are traditionally disappointing, as they are often much hyped prior to their occurrence (of course, the hype assumes the event will be a success).

Some notable non-events of recent history have been:

• The much-hyped 1973 appearance of Comet Kohoutek
• The 1986 appearance of Halley's Comet
• The live prime time special of Geraldo Rivera opening Al Capone's vault, which turned out to be empty
• The Y2K bug