I love me some conspiracy theories.
This is a new weekly (or maybe bi-weekly) theme I’ll be doing here where I try to shine a light on some of the most bizarre, interesting and controversial conspiracies out there.
Please tighten your tinfoil hats and make sure there are no electronic devices spying on you before continuing.
The Flat Earth Theory
A modern representation of the Flat Earth model | source
I don’t think there’s a more self-explanatory conspiracy theory than this one. You guessed it: the idea here is that the earth isn’t round like a basketball, but rather flat like a pizza.
Walking around on earth’s surface surely feels and looks flat. Therefore, the theory proponents deem all evidence that points to a spherical earth as either misinterpretations or deliberate fabrications orchestrated by NASA and government agencies all around the world.
An ancient model of the Earth, alegedly inspired by descriptions in the bible | source
The idea of the earth as a flat surface is not new. The modern flat earth hypothesis, though, is mostly the fruit of English writer Samuel Rowbotham. He published a 16-page pamphlet in 1849 called Zetetic Astronomy, where he lays out the basis of his theory based on his conclusions from the Bedford Level Experiment, a series of observations carried along a 6-mile stretch of the Old Bedford River in the UK:
”The most famous of the observations, and the one that was taught in schools until photographs of the Earth from space became available, involved a set of three poles fixed at equal height above water level along this length. As the surface of the water was understood to follow any hypothetical curvature of the Earth, the observation that the three poles aligned perfectly when observed through a theodolite serves as evidence of a flat Earth.” / source
Rowbotham’s pamphlet would later expand into a 430-page book published in 1881, laying out the basis of Modern Flat Earth Theory.
The Modern Flat Earth Model
The new model establishes that the earth is a disc with the arctic circle located in the center. Antarctica is a 150 feet tall ice wall in a ring shape that surrounds everything at the border of the circle.
source
The day and night cycle is determined by two spheres measuring 32 miles each. They move in circles in a plane above the earth that is more than 3000 miles high. The stars are just a little higher than that: around 3100 miles from earth’s surface.
source
Earth’s gravity isn’t really the result of its mass gravitational pull. Instead of gravity, what makes us stick to Earth’s surface is the result of something called “Universal Acceleration”. To put it simply, the earth is in a constant state of upwards acceleration driven by something called dark energy.
Although that’s the most accepted explanation, it isn’t really set in stone. According to the Flat Earth Society wiki:
“There are several explanations for UA (Universal Acceleration). As it is difficult for proponents of Flat Earth Theory to obtain grant money for scientific research, it is nigh on impossible to determine which of these theories is correct.” / source
The different seasons are explained by slight changes in the sun’s orbit. The more it moves away from the center, the colder it gets:
source
I was really surprised by how much literature there is on the subject. The Flat Earth Library made dozens of publications available to the public. Most of them are from the 18th and 19th centuries, and the newest article dates back to 2009. I believe there weren’t many advancements in the field since then.
They do, however, have some slick streetwear available for purchase in the Flat Earth Society store:
source
Growing Interest
Even though the Flat Earth academic community isn’t very active, the theory is more popular than never between the general population.
It is really curious to see how much interest the Flat Earth hypothesis has attracted. A quick Google Trends search reveals that it has never been as popular as it is now.
source
Most of the searches are coming from the US, where the Flat Earth model has arguably the largest number of proponents. New Zealand and Australia come right behind in second and third place, respectively:
source
Final Thoughts
I must admit there are a handful of conspiracy theories out there that really get me going. There may be more truth in those than I’m comfortable to admit. The Flat Earth hypothesis, however, is not one of them.
What bothers me the most about the Flat Earth theory boils down to this:
How do you keep a conspiracy that requires the cooperation of all of NASA and pretty much every government on the planet (or disc, if you will)?
It’s hard enough to keep a secret between two people. How can you get thousands of people to shut up about something of this scale?
If you’re a terraplanist, please don’t be mad. I’d love to read what you have to say on the matter.
Sage up,
Hi, how are you doing? I post regularly on subjects related to cryptocurrency and new tech. If you like my stuff and want to get it fresh off the keyboard, follow me @sek3.
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Here is my problem with the flat earth community. It's fine to entertain all ideas, but at a certain point you need to perform experiments to test your hypothesis. The earth can be proven to be round, and you can even calculate its circumference simply with two sticks far apart. All you have to measure is the distance between the sticks, height of each stick, lengths of the shadow created, and angles of the shadows created. Some basic geometry and trig relationships make the calculation rather simple actually.
Another easy way is to get a boat and try to navigate with triangles and planar geometry. FYI: you will get extremely lost. There is a reason we invented trigonometry, and it wasn't just to fool everyone.
Trigonometry is just a tool invented by spherists to deceive the masses. You should now better! :D
I can't really tell who's really into it or who's in on the joke. But it seems to attract a lot of toxic people.
From when I first saw this, I've thought it was invented to make conspiracy theories in general seem more ridiculous and take away credibility of some of the more plausible ones. Or maybe it was just an experiment to see how many people would fall for it.
I have a feeling that the recent rise in popularity is mostly the product of people who are in on the joke and not actual believers.
You're right, even Obama used this to dismiss climate change skepticism:
http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-23057369/obama-no-time-for-a-meeting-of-the-flat-earth-society
Wow!
This is a great post. You did your homework for this one. All the graphics look great.
Keep banging them out just like this dude.
Thanks! I always find something to improve once I post it though. There's literally not a single post I did that wasn't edited afterwards.
I've heard about the flat Earth theory lately, although I didn't know much about it (other than that it was probably about the earth being flat). This really shed some light on it.
I can't wait for the next conspiracy topic.
Yeah, this one is pretty self evident. I'll try to address some more obscure theories as I move on.