The Greatest Conspiracy Theories Revisited
Everyone loves a good conspiracy. Why should we accept what we’re told by censored news outlets and government-controlled media? Once we begin to investigate famous historical events ourselves, we often uncover things that just don’t add up and that may suggest an alternative truth to the one we’ve been told. Conspiracy theories may sometimes seem extreme, maybe even impossible, but there are some strong ones out there that people truly believe in. They may also seem like independent theories; however, the basis of all conspiracy theories is some sort of higher power aiming to distort the public perception of events. Let’s remind ourselves of some of the greatest conspiracy theories of all time.
The Illuminati
Arguably the biggest, most well-known conspiracy theory, the existence of an all-powerful secret group ruling the world is commonly referenced in today’s society, usually in a joking manner. But what if a New World Order really does exist? Is it possible we’re living on a planet secretly controlled by a one-world government? It’s believed that certain celebrities are working as puppets for the Illuminati, infiltrating their belief systems and values into society. As a result of brainwashing or hypnotizing celebrities, strange, unexplainable events sometimes occur, such as Cardi B’s odd trance-like moment during a red-carpet interview.
Shane Dawson explains the theory in his video MIND BLOWING CONSPIRACY THEORIES. He also suggests that celebrities’ crazy behaviour could be a result of them losing their identity after breaking out of Illuminati hypnosis. On the other hand, this behaviour could be an intentional distraction from distressing world news as there are some pretty coincidental timings regarding large celebrity news and real-world news. Of course, all these things could be purely coincidental and standard attention-seeking, erratic behaviour from celebrities feeling the pressure of the industry.
9/11
This hugely historic terror attack on New York has led to multiple conspiracy theories for people who would rather blame the American government than terrorists for the death of thousands of citizens. One of the most common theories is that bombs were planted and activated inside the towers before the planes even hit. Footage exists to back up this theory, as well as statements from survivors of the attack, although footage can of course be edited, and survivors of the attack confused and likely suffering from PTSD.
This theory has been taken even further by the suggestion that there were in fact no planes at all and that CGI has been used to create the planes in all the clips. This is an extreme theory but there is evidence that points towards it, mainly concerning how the planes enter the towers so smoothly and seem to travel straight through them, with the nose appearing through the other side. Watch Shane Dawson’s video where these theories are explained. The basis of these various theories is that the attacks were either orchestrated by the American government or at least allowed to happen so that they had an excuse to invade Iraq on the pretence of asserting American dominance. Would President Bush or other government officials really go to these extreme and inhumane lengths solely for this purpose?
The Mandela Effect
This conspiracy messes with a lot of people’s heads in a similar way to the experience of Deja vu, both concepts often thought to be the result of time travel or parallel universes. Its name derives from one of the most well-known cases: the fact that when Nelson Mandela died, a significant amount of the world’s population were quite baffled as they believed he had died a number of years before whilst in prison. Other scenarios where a large number of people remember something the same way which isn’t in fact true have been labelled as the Mandela Effect.
Where the conspiracy element comes in is when there appears to be evidence for these alternative beliefs, such as an earlier death date for Nelson Mandela being published in a book years before his actual death, something which authors would be ordinarily sued for. Shane Dawson believes that this proves there are alternative timelines/parallel universes in which events play out differently. However, these instances are more likely a common case of Chinese whispers and minor marketing errors simply because our created versions are more memorable, for instance Sex in the City rather than Sex and the City; Snow White’s ‘Mirror mirror on the wall’ as opposed to ‘Magic mirror on the wall’ and Star Wars’ famous line ‘Luke, I am your father’ which actually doesn’t use the vocative at all, ‘I am your father’.
Area 51
The US Air Force base in the Nevada desert has brought about some extravagant conspiracy theories due to the secretive and probative nature of the location and its use, satellite images of the site only coming into existence last year. It’s recently attracted so much attention that two million people have jokingly pledged to ‘storm’ the site on a Facebook event. The most common belief is that the area is used to examine crashed spacecrafts and their inhabitants, or even to hold meetings with living aliens. Other theories suggest that the site is being used to develop futuristic weapons or transport systems. It’s natural that what we don’t know threatens us and our trust in world leaders, leading us to speculate and come to our own conclusions as to what is being hidden from the world, but I think it’s highly unlikely that we’re secretly communicating with other life forms in this remote area of the US.
The moon landing
One of the oldest conspiracy theories surrounds the famous moon landing in 1969, conspiracy theorists believing that this historic event didn’t actually happen. Based on an analysis of the televised event, people are convinced that America faked the whole thing so that they could claim to be the first nation to land on the moon. The number one reason for this conspiracy theory is that the American flag placed on the moon upon ‘landing’ began to flutter in the ‘wind’, when there is thought to be no atmosphere in outer space, therefore raising valid questions as to the authenticity of the event. However, as of 2013, NASA declared that they had discovered an atmosphere of various gases on the moon, including ‘solar wind particles’. Whether this would constitute a breeze significant enough to provide the flag with kinetic energy, or if in fact these gas sources were present 50 years ago is not clear.
Another questionable element picked up on from the broadcast was the lack of stars. There is no light pollution on the moon, meaning that stars should be clearly visible, yet none were. This led people to believe that the landing was filmed on a set. On top of the absence of stars, there was the presence of the ‘C rock’, a rock which appeared in a photo from the moon landing with the letter C clearly carved into it. If this isn’t a sign of a purpose-built set, I don’t know what is…MAYBE the fact that shadows appeared in various different directions within one shot, an obvious sign of multiple stage lights as opposed to the one light source of the sun! There is so much more evidence, outlined in Shane Dawson’s video MOON LANDING CONSPIRACY THEORY, including the lack of a crater when the craft landed and the use of wires to imitate the absence of gravity. Of all the conspiracy theories discussed in this article, this is the most convincing one in my eyes.
