We are fast approaching the 50th anniversary of one of the signature achievements of the human race: putting a man on the moon. 

Or not.  

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While a large majority of Americans embrace the significance of Neil Armstrong’s historic walk, there remains a skeptical demographic for whom the Sea of Tranquility is a sea of deniability.  

Fifty years ago to the week of Apollo 11’s journey, 10% of Americans still don’t believe we landed on the moon. In the spirit of durable conspiracies, here are 4 other things that some of your neighbors may believe:

Area 51

If the moon landing was faked, perhaps the soundstage was Area 51; an extension of Edwards Air Force base roughly 150 miles from Las Vegas, many believe it is the epicenter of all manner of alien activity and government shenanigans.

Area 51 remains an indefatigable conspiracy site as evidenced by the recent satirical Facebook event name Storm Area 51: They Can’t Stop All of Us, which currently has over 1.1 million people planning to attend and another 967,000 “interested” in attending. 

The uncovering of UFOs or other secret alien technology could prove useful in clarifying the next conspiracy on the list.

The earth is flat  

Perhaps the trendiest current conspiracy, the flat-Earth movement hasn’t needed alien technology to validate itself when it has a growing list of famous people espousing the wonders of flatness.  From NBA star Kyrie Irving to musician B.o.B, there’s enough high-profile oomph to power the doubt further into the future. 

Concepts like Antarctica as a 150-foot ice wall surrounding the rim of earth, to the “antimoon,”  NASA as a hoax, and the illusion of gravity, the Earth-is-flat crowd supports itself with a stocked buffet of yummy options for the non-believers to chew on. 

As Medium points out, “Before the advent of the internet, it took 50 years for the Flat Earth Society to reach 3,500 members. Their website now gets over 300,000 unique visits every day.

There are flat Earth Facebook pages with over 100,000 likes; flat Earth YouTube videos with millions of views; and an untold number of Twitter users and subreddits and discussion forums and online chat rooms — all dedicated to the dissemination of flat Earth theories.”h

And if the Earth is flat, why should we believe the geography of the world is accurate, or immune to doubt?

In fact our next conspiracy questions the very existence of an entire continent.

Australia doesn’t exist

Even flat-Earthers would have trouble explaining how Australia doesn’t exist when you can see it from the sky and space.

The most modern conspiracy on this list, this emerged from one of the most malignant, truth-averse spawning grounds in all of recorded history: the internet.

Started in 2017 for no good reason whatsoever, the weak case for Australia simply not existing is too muddled to delve into but raises the question: Where, then, did the 2000 Summer Olympics (thought to have occurred in Sydney, Australia) actually take place?

While Australia doubters have spoken at Flat Earth events, it seems hard to explain why even commercial flyers can see it from the sky and space. And since we’re back on the topic of space, let’s round out the list with one of NASA’s big supporters.

JFK was not killed by a lone gunman

The persistence of alternative theories is embodied in continued speculation about the U.S. President who started our race to the Moon. Shot and killed 55 years ago, JFK’s death remains a hotly contested debate. 

Even the 2017 release of previously unseen government documents did little to squash the conspiracy-minded takes.

According to a 2017 survey conducted by FiveThirtyEight, a majority (61%) of adults believe there were multiple gunmen involved, compared to 31% who think Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. The official government line is that Oswald was the lone gunman, end of story.

Enduring theories persist, and even the 2017 release of previously unseen government documents related to the assassination did little to end the debate and squash the conspiracy-minded takes. 

Apologies if we left off a conspiracy near and dear to your heart.  With a little luck, some celebrity support, and of course the continued existence of the internet, it could make the list next time. 

|July 15, 2019