Top 10 Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy. People respectfully shy away from you just by using the word, looking for someone who won't corner them with wild claims about how Elvis, JFK, and Bigfoot are cryogenically stored in an underground bunker.

Conspiracies do exist, however. Major corporations from which we buy things on a daily basis have been found guilty of conspiring to control prices and eliminate competition. From petty murder-for-hire to the Watergate break-in, any planned illegal act undertaken by more than one individual could be deemed a conspiracy.

However, many conspiracy theorists believe there is a hidden hand behind the world's biggest events. Top conspiracy theories are notoriously tough to debunk: Some may contain kernels of truth or satisfy believers' emotional needs. Hardcore believers are also skilled at reasoning away evidence that challenges their beliefs. Eyewitnesses who question the conclusions of even the most extreme conspiracy theories are either incorrect or part of the plot.

10. The 9/11 Conspiracies

The evidence strongly suggests that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, were the result of a conspiracy involving Osama bin Laden and a group of predominantly Saudi hijackers.

However, some people will find this too straightforward. Conspiracy theorists offer a range of much more sophisticated explanations for what happened at the World Trade Centre and Pentagon that day, many of which involve insider information from President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and top Bush advisers.

Some well-known conspiracy theories, such as Israel's orchestrated attacks, draw on anti-Semitic tropes. Many people believe the Twin Towers were brought down by controlled demolition from bombs installed before the aircraft crashed because "jet fuel can't melt steel beams." (These allegations were refuted in a 2006 NOVA documentary.) When exposed to fires on several floors, it is very conceivable for the columns that support skyscrapers to fall catastrophically.)

Other accusations are easily debunked by logic: if a hijacked airliner did not crash into the Pentagon as alleged, where are Flight 77 and its passengers? Are they at Hangar 18 with the Roswell aliens? Bureaucratic inefficiency is frequently misinterpreted for conspiracy in many conspiracy theories. So the logic goes, our government is so efficient, knowledgeable, and skilled that it couldn't possible have botched the job so horribly in identifying the plot or responding to the attacks.

9. Moon Landing Hoax

In 1969, NASA sent astronauts to the moon. By the 1970s, there was a weird conspiracy circulating claiming the moon landing never took place.

"We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle," a self-published book from 1976, and the 1978 film "Capricorn One" both detailed the conspiracy. Even as recently as 2001, a Fox documentary called "Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?" promoted the idea that the entire Apollo moon-landing operation was a hoax.

The suggestion that astronauts lied about their achievements has outraged many of them. Buzz Aldrin, aged 72, struck conspiracy theorist Bart Sibrel in the jaw in 2002 after Sibrel called him a "coward and a liar" for fabricating the moon landings.

8. John F. Kennedy’s assassination

In 1963, a Dallas motorcade shot John F. Kennedy. Is it true, however, that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone? Is it possible that there was a second gunman on the grassy knoll?

These inquiries lead to a vast world of conspiracy ideas, creating endless speculation as well as hundreds of books, articles, and films. Lee Harvey Oswald was slain in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters only two days after the assassination, surrounded by police officers and a man with mob ties. The whole event appeared to be a ruse.

Fidel Castro's regime, anti-Castro protestors, organised crime, the CIA, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and others have all been suggested as masterminds of the Kennedy killing. The difficulty with presidents is that they amass a large number of enemies. The Warren Commission report, the official investigation into Kennedy's killing, found no evidence of widespread conspiracies, yet conspiracy theories abound.

7. Roswell Crash and Cover Up

Almost all doubters and believers agree on one thing: in 1947, something landed on an isolated ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. The authorities initially claimed it was a flying saucer, but later recanted, claiming it was a weather balloon. Despite this, the best evidence suggests it was a high-altitude, top-secret military balloon designated Project Mogul, not a flying saucer or a weather balloon.

The wreckage described by the initial eyewitnesses turns out to be quite similar to images of the Project Mogul balloons, right down to the silvery sheen and weird insignia on the side. The first reports of crashed alien bodies did not appear for decades, and no one thought the Roswell crash was anything extraterrestrial or odd until a book on the subject was published thirty years later. There was a cover-up, but it didn't conceal a wrecked spacecraft. Instead, it concealed a spying programme from the Cold War.

6. Protocols of the Elders of Zion

"The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" is a hoaxed antisemitic book that purported to reveal a Jewish conspiracy to achieve world domination. It first appeared in Russia in 1905, and described how Christians' morality, finances, and health would be targeted by a small group of powerful Jews. The antisemitic idea that there is a Jewish conspiracy is nothing new, of course, and has been repeated by many prominent people including Henry Ford and Mel Gibson. In 1920, Henry Ford paid to have half a million copies of it to be published, and in the 1930s, the book was used by the Nazis as justification for its genocide against Jews (in fact, Adolf Hitler referred to the "Protocols" in his book "Mein Kampf").

Despite being totally rejected as a fraud and forgery, the book is still in print and widely distributed around the world.

5. The Satanic Panic

During the 1980s and 1990s, America was persuaded that an underground network of Satanists was kidnapping, torturing, and abusing children. Despite the fact that none of it was true, conspiracy theories damaged lives and careers.

Geraldo Rivera's NBC show "Devil Worship: Exposing Satan's Underground," which aired on Oct. 28, 1988, was the climax. Rivera based his claims on self-described "Satanism experts," misleading and erroneous statistics, crimes with just tangential ties to Satanism, and sensationalist media coverage. It was the most-watched documentary ever on television. "Over one million Satanists live in our country," Rivera stated, adding, "the chances are, [they] live in your community."

The McMartin preschool trial, in which a California mother accused daycare operators of sexually abusing her son, sparked widespread fear in 1983. Police then issued a letter to parents informing them that their children may have been mistreated and advising them to ask what turned out to be leading questions to a group of suggestible preschoolers. Authorities continued to probe the children in this vein, resulting in supposed eyewitness claims of secret tunnels and witches soaring through the skies.

FBI agent Kenneth Lanning concluded in a 1992 investigation on ritual crime that the widespread claims about ritual Satanism were baseless. The frequent charges of Satanist atrocities, according to Phillips Stevens, Jr., associate professor of anthropology at the State University of New York in Buffalo, "constitute the greatest fraud perpetrated upon the American public in the twentieth century."

4. Princess Diana’s Murder

Conspiracies arose within hours of Princess Diana's murder in a Paris motorway tunnel on Aug. 31, 1997. The concept that such a revered and high-profile individual could be assassinated so suddenly, as was the case with John F. Kennedy's death, was shocking. This was especially true of Princess Diana: royals die of old age, political intrigue, or overindulging in sumptuous foods, not from a drunk driver.

Unlike many conspiracy theories, however, this one was promoted by a billionaire: Mohamed Al-Fayed, the father of Dodi Al-Fayed, who was murdered with Diana. According to Al-Fayed, the accident was staged by British intelligence agencies at the behest of the Royal Family. A 2006 probe looked into Al-accusations Fayed's and found them to be false; at Diana's inquest the following year, the coroner noted, "The conspiracy theory provided by Mohamed Al Fayed has been minutely reviewed and determined to be without any basis." The coroner's jury concluded on April 7, 2008, that Diana and Al-Fayed were killed unlawfully due to the recklessness of their inebriated chauffeur and chasing paparazzi.

3. Chemtrails

Long water condensation trails, known as contrails, are left behind by planes as they fly. These cloud-like traces gradually vanish.

However, some conspiracy theorists believe that these condensation trails are much more sinister. According to the "Chemtrails" conspiracy theory, condensation trails contain additional chemicals that scientists and governments are intentionally sowing into the atmosphere. Why? Choose your reason. Biological warfare, population control, geoengineering, or weather manipulation are all possibilities.

According to Harvard University's David Keith, researchers who investigate the impact of clouds on global temperatures are frequently accosted by Chemtrails fanatics who believe they are part of a large-scale conspiracy to discreetly spray unknown chemicals into the atmosphere. Chemtrails were scientifically refuted in 2016, with no evidence of strange contrails or mysterious contamination in the environment. True believers, though, are unconvinced.

2. Covid and 5G

The COVID-19 epidemic has sparked more conspiracy theories than any other occurrence since 9/11. There are conspiracy theories about the virus's origins as well as the reactions of virtually every administration. Many people feel doctors are exaggerating COVID-related mortality and blaming the virus for deaths caused by other factors. A long-standing fear of "Big Pharma," fueled by "alternative medicine" supporters like Kevin Trudeau (bestselling author of "Natural Cures They Don't Want You To Know About," a textbook conspiratorial title if there ever was one), has fed into medical treatment and vaccination theories.

One of the stranger conspiracies combines long-held concerns about 5G wireless technology with concerns about the virus. Researchers stated in 2020 that electromagnetic frequencies from cell phone towers damage the immune system, causing people to become sick with COVID, according to the COVID 5G conspiracy. Another conspiracy theory alleges that the COVID-19 vaccines contain tracking chips that connect to 5G networks, allowing the government, or possibly Bill Gates, to follow everyone's movements.

5G chips are too huge to fit through a vaccine needle, according to CNBC, and even the smallest RFID chips that could fit would require a power supply that couldn't handle the squeeze.

1. Birds Aren’t Real

When is it no longer a conspiracy? When it's a large-scale performance piece.

Or does that just add to the conspiracy theory?

The Birds Aren't Real conspiracy was established by Peter McIndoe, a 23-year-old who began propagating the theory in 2017. McIndoe maintained in character as a devout believer until a December 2021 interview in the New York Times, stating in media interviews and online that birds aren't real, but rather surveillance drones produced by the US government. Birds Aren't Real has a staff, has organised real-life protests, purchased real-life billboards, and has their assertion imprinted on vans. The idea, according to McIndoe, is to mock the misinformation that Gen Z is surrounded with.

"Birds Aren't Real'' isn't a superficial spoof of outside conspiracies. It comes from deep within, "he says. "A lot of individuals in our generation are feeling the absurdity of it all, and Birds Aren't Real has been a method for them to absorb that."

The experiment indicated that conspiracies might grow as a result of people's gullibility: Birds Aren't Real was occasionally covered in the local media as if it were a genuine belief among young people rather than a clever joke. The organisers of Birds Aren't Real believe that by exposing all of the ways misinformation thrives, the joke will become a force for good.